Rose Weasley and the Coming Storm
by kellythefangirl
Summary: When Rose Weasley, Al Potter, and Scorpius Malfoy return to Hogwarts for their fifth year, Rose feels isolated and spends much of her time exploring the castle alone. When she accidentally discovers that there is something attacking the ghosts of Hogwarts, she knows she has to help-but it may have more to do with her, Al, and Scorpius than she ever thought.
1. The Visitor

**Hi everyone! Sorry it took so long to get the first chapter up, but here it is! This is the fifth book in a series, so if you haven't read the other books I would suggest that; the other books are on my account, and the first one is called Rose Weasley and the New Order. Thanks so much for reading and please review! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 1

THE VISITOR

Rose Weasley waited in the Leaky Cauldron after her shift was over instead of Weasley Wizard Wheezes every day during the summer between her fourth and fifth year and it had nothing to do with Scorpius Malfoy working at the record shop next door. At least, that's what she told herself. It was just easier for James to pick her up this way. Of course.

After working weekday afternoons in her Uncle George's joke shop, Rose sat at the window waiting for her cousin, usually under the pretense of catching up with Roxanne before the latter had to go back to her dad's shop, and occasionally she saw her former best friend walking down Charing Cross road to the Underground Station that would take him back to Grimmauld Place. She had almost dared to speak to him twice, but never had. According to the bartender, he had come in before for a butterbeer or water and sat, usually reading, at the counter for a while, but Rose had never seen it. Apparently it only happened on days he got out of work late, and she had never managed to be in the same place at the same time. She wasn't even sure that she wanted to—she had been completely ignoring his existence all summer long. It was rather annoying for her, as she had barely seen her cousin's daughter except when Victoire and Teddy brought her to the Burrow to meet all of them that June. As of the third week of August, she had only seen Annie Lupin once and it was all his fault—he didn't deserve to live with such a cute baby, she thought bitterly as she sipped her glass of water.

"Is Aidan going over tonight?" Roxanne asked. Rose snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head.

"Er, no, tomorrow," Rose said. "He's going home with me after our shift."

Roxanne grinned. "Wish I could be there to see this."

"No you really don't," Rose mumbled. "My dad's going to be a bloody nightmare. It's not even that serious, I don't know why everyone's getting so worked up about it."

"It's been six months now," Roxanne reminded her. "That's serious for some adults, Rose."

"Well, whatever, I just…"

"Do you not think it's serious?" Roxanne asked. Rose bit her lip.

"Er, I don't know, I've hardly seen him over the summer… I mean he writes and everything…"

"M-hm," Roxanne said, rolling her eyes a little. "But can you honestly say you could see yourself with him later on?"

"No," Rose said hesitantly, "but I don't have to. Just because practically all of our parents only ever had one real relationship…"

"Well, yeah, that's true, I mean, Aunt Ginny…"

"Exactly. That's what I'm trying to _avoid_."

"I mean, it's worked out pretty well for them," Roxanne said, shrugging. "I'm not saying I don't agree with you, just… some people just click, I think." Rose didn't exactly know what to say and used this time to glance out the window again—no sign of Scorpius. "Anyway, your parents are being reasonable if they want him over for dinner, all I'm saying."

"Right," Rose mumbled, glancing around the pub.

"Hey, Rose, ready to go?" She hadn't even noticed James coming in, and stood up quickly.

"Sure, let's go," she said, smiling despite being a tiny bit disappointed she hadn't seen Scorpius today. "Bye, Roxanne.""See you tomorrow," Roxanne said, waving. She grabbed onto James's arm and noticed a flash of a blond head bobbing through the crowd outside just as they Disapparated.

Back at the Burrow, she walked into the house, said a quick hello to Hugo and Lily at the kitchen table, and continued up the stairs to her room where she laid her bag down on her bed and went straight to her desk situated under her window to wait for her owl. She was expecting a letter from Maggie, but she still had homework to do for the new term starting in less than two weeks. She opened her Arithmancy textbook and began to read intently.

 _There are some who decide to make many of their choices in regards to the numerical value of everything around them; while this is a cumbersome and restrictive decision-making method, there may be some credibility in the concept of number compatibility. For example, couples with the same Character Number are much more likely to succeed statistically than those who—_

Philip tapped his beak on the window then and Rose's head shot up. She let Maggie's owl in, who joined Musetta on her perch, seeming exhausted. Rose pushed Musetta's food dish towards him and he gratefully descended upon it, despite Musetta's clicks in protest. "Oh, I'll get you some more. He just flew over the ocean, have some sympathy." Musetta still seemed indignant when Rose opened the letter.

17 August 2021

Hey Rose,

Things are great here, thanks for asking. From what I can tell, by the way, this April girl hasn't heard from Scorpius since he left in June. Must be tough to be her. Might be good for you though. (I know you said you hate him, but there's a little part of me that doesn't believe you. You and Aidan are cute, though, so do what you will.) So you said you see him after work? What does he look like? Does he look different? I've never met the guy, but I don't know, I'm curious. You were right, by the way; Alex asked me out, we're going to a movie next week. Our year's starting on the 6th after Labor Day so I guess you'll start before me. Let me know how the whole Prince and McGonagall thing is playing out. Write back ASAP.

Maggie

Rose wrote back quickly.

21 August 2021

Hi Maggie,

That's interesting about April. I don't really know much about what he's been doing, but you know that from my rant last time about Annie. I just want to see my cousin, does he have to live with her? But I've seen him through the pub window, he's… I don't know, I suppose he's different. He's cut his hair a bit; it's not short, though, just a different style than I've seen. And he's just… I don't know, dressing differently? Plus, he's working at Jimmy Walker Records on Charing Cross, and I know you don't know what that is, but it's sort of… where Teddy would shop? I mean, it's a Muggle shop, but they'd have The Weird Sisters and that other vampire band and things like that if they weren't. I think he's gone punk or something, it's odd. I'll have to find out soon, I suppose. We start on the first (I'll keep you up to date on Prince and the like). I can't believe you start so late, whatever Labour Day is. Anyway, I definitely knew it about Alex. Have fun, though it'll probably have already happened by the time you get this. Write soon, it's getting boring here. There's a finite number of Roxanne pranking schemes I can pretend to be interested in.

Rose

It was odd, she thought to herself, that Scorpius hadn't been visiting the Burrow that summer, if not for her than for Al. She wondered if Al was feeling resentful of him like she had been last year, but she didn't want to bring it up to him. She returned to her homework, a short essay about how her numerology affected her personality, and it wasn't long before she heard Gran calling everyone to dinner. She sat down at her place at the end of the long table, with Hugo next to her and James and Al across, and they all started to eat. "How was work?" Al asked.

"Fine," Rose said. "I was just working the register with Roxanne; Uncle George and Fred were promoting some new product."

"Oh, yeah, Exploding Joke Wands. I was going to go in and get one but you were already at the Leaky Cauldron, didn't seem worth it," James said.

"That seems dangerous," Aunt Ginny said from further down the table. James rolled his eyes.

"It shoots out of your hand and _then_ explodes," he explained, and suddenly an owl tapped on the window behind them, carrying several letters with it.

"That'll be the Hogwarts letters," Uncle Harry said, and stood up to let the owl in. He took the letters and started passing them out, seeming to smile a little. "All three of you have badges, I think," he told them, and Rose and Al looked at each other in surprise.

"That can't be right, we've gotten in far too much trouble," Al said. Uncle Harry shrugged and handed them the letters.

"It says right here, it's yours. _Albus Potter, Attic Bedroom_ and _Rose Weasley, Second Floor Room on the Right_." Rose grabbed hers and flipped past the usual school supply letter to find, indeed, another letter and a small package.

Dear Ms. Weasley:

We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected for the position of Prefect. You will be representing the fifth year Gryffindor girls. Enclosed is your Prefect badge. When boarding the Hogwarts express, you will report to the Prefects' Carriage at the back of the train for instructions from the Head Girl and Boy, Ava Matthews and James Potter. We hope you will appreciate the opportunity afforded by this position.

"James, you're Head Boy!" Al exclaimed as Rose was finishing reading her letter, and James stared at him in disbelief.

"There's no way that's right," James said. "This is just my prefect badge…" He ripped open his letter and stared blankly at the second letter. "That makes no sense."

"We're very proud of you, James," Aunt Ginny said, though she seemed like she thought it was more funny than impressive. Gran nodded in agreement, though she looked a lot more sincere. "So when do you all want to go get supplies? We can go tomorrow if everyone's free."

"I think so, when are you working, Rose? We can just pick you up from there," her dad suggested.

"I'm working 1:00-5:00 tomorrow, but Aidan was going to come over," she reminded them, and her mother nodded.

"Well, that's fine, he could come with us, I'm sure he needs to buy his supplies," she said, and Rose agreed quietly, a little miffed they'd found a solution so quickly. She was dreading the next night a little more than she'd thought.

"Oh, that sounds like fun," James said, smirking a little, and Aunt Ginny shot him a look down the table. "I meant that! I did! It sounds like fun!" He smiled sweetly at Rose in a way that only came across as disturbing to anyone who knew James, and Rose rolled her eyes. Soon after they had finished dinner, they heard someone pounding on the door. Rose was playing chess with Al and looked up, the two of them sharing an alarmed glance. Uncle Harry stood up and ran over to the door, throwing it open and speaking in a low voice to someone Rose couldn't see.

"Come in," she heard Uncle Harry say, and Rose's mother stood up.

"Kids, upstairs," she said, her voice even, but Rose heard anxiety in her voice. "Quickly, please." Rose shared another glance with Al and got up, rushing up the stairs with the others while her mother walked towards the door as well and the other adults exchanged worried glances.

"You've got an Extendable Ear in your room, right Hugo?" James asked, and Rose's brother nodded and ran to get it, upstairs to the attic he shared with Al. Hugo returned quickly and lowered the Ear down to the floor. They all huddled around it and listened closely.

"There wasn't a break-in?" Uncle Harry asked.

"No signs of it," the unfamiliar voice said. It was a deep, booming voice, intimidating but very even.

"It has to be someone on the inside, then," her mother said.

"Or someone Apparated inside, but no one can Apparate in there," Uncle Harry said.

"As far as we know," the voice said.

"I can't believe this," Uncle Harry sighed. "It's gone, then?"

"It's gone."

"It must be Nott, right, Harry?" her dad said. "I mean, who else could it be?"

"It could be anyone, Ron," he said. "I don't know."

"But if he's looking for the kids—"

"I know, but we have no idea if it's them or Cobra or someone else we don't know about. All I know is this isn't the first time the Department's been broken into for a prophecy and it won't be the last, and we can't spend all our time trying to find out who it was."

"But if we don't find them—"

"Honestly, Ron, I'm sure they'll show themselves. We're stationed back at the school this year, the kids will be safe."

"So you won't tell them?"

"No. There's no need yet. They shouldn't have to know yet."

James moved forward and tapped Hugo. "Pull it up," he whispered, "I reckon they'll come get us soon."

"Who's talking to Dad?" Lily asked.

"That's Kingsley Shacklebolt," James said, and Rose realized that she knew him, not personally, but she had seen his face before. He had been a big politician when she was very young and she knew he had been one of the most famous Aurors ever. "Old Head of the Auror Department way before Dad. If he's gotten out of retirement…"

"That prophecy must be pretty bad," Al said. James shook his head.

"I don't know if I'm glad we heard that," he said. "I think it's better not to know. If we find that prophecy—it sounds like it's about us, or at least some of us, but I don't want to know." He stood up quickly, almost angrily, and walked up the next flight of stairs up to the second floor, and Rose followed him. "Rosie—" he sighed, but she crossed her arms. She wasn't going to let him brush her off again.

"My room's on this floor, I can be here if I want to be," she said. "And I wanted to make sure you're all right."

"I'm fine, I'm always fine," he muttered.

"Er, no, you're not," she said. Then, more quietly, "Why don't you want to know?" She couldn't imagine not wanting to know what that prophecy said. If it had anything to do with her—or any of them, really—she could never live not knowing.

"I've had enough of my fate decided for me already," he said, looking up at her. "Now will you leave me alone?"

Rose looked at him for another second, realizing he really did need to be alone, and said, "Fine," turning around and walking into her room. When she got inside, she shut the door and dropped down onto her bed. She settled in to wait out Kingsley's stay, staring at the ceiling and thinking about what James had said. At first she couldn't understand it, but more and more she could see why he thought what he did and almost found herself wishing that the prophecy had never existed at all. Now that she knew about it, though, she knew that she had to know what it said.


	2. Attack on Diagon Alley

**Hi guys! I'm so so sorry for the long wait, I've been super busy over the holidays and I also had the worst writer's block ever lately, but here's chapter 2! Updates will be coming much more frequently now, I promise! I hope you like the chapter, reviews are awesome, and thanks again! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 2

ATTACK ON DIAGON ALLEY

"You're nervous," Roxanne insisted from behind the counter. Rose shook her head silently, pretending to be fiddling with the register. "Yes, you are. You're turning red right now."

"Only because you keep talking about it," Rose muttered, and the conversation was luckily interrupted for a while by a boy trying to buy three Snackboxes with a large bag of Sickles. As soon as he'd left, however, Roxanne started talking again.

"It's not like he hasn't met them, right?" she said. "I mean, they know he's not, like, a drug addict or something."

"Well, yes, but they've only met for a minute or so, and I just know my dad's going to find some way to embarrass me," Rose groaned. Roxanne shrugged.

"Yeah, I suppose." She checked her watch. "He'll be here in about five minutes, at any rate."

"Really?" Rose exclaimed, and looked around nervously.

"Relax," Roxanne reminded her. Rose tried to return to the register, helping a couple people at the counter before Aidan walked into the shop and waved from the other side of the store. Roxanne smiled a little too sweetly as Rose grabbed her bag and headed outside, Fred brushing past her on his way to take her place.

"Hey!" Aidan said, smiling, and he kissed her quick before adding, "Your parents are outside, I've already said hello."

"Are you sure you're all right with the whole shopping idea?" Rose said. "I didn't mean to spring it on you but then we got the Hogwarts letters last night…"

"Oh, it's fine," Aidan said. "Let's go." Rose abandoned her last effort and followed him outside to meet her parents. As they walked towards the book store, Aidan looked over her shoulder where she was reading the supply list. He paused at the bottom and said, "Are you a prefect? There are two pages."

"Er, yeah, I forgot to tell you," Rose said, and Aidan grinned. "So's Al."

"Oh, congratulations," he added to her cousin, trailing a comfortable distance behind them. "That's brilliant, I'll be able to sit with you on the train after all."

"You'll never believe who's Head Boy," Al exclaimed, nodding over their heads to James. Aidan looked surprised but quickly smiled.

"Oh, that's great, James!" he said, and James either didn't hear him or ignored him, to Rose's annoyance. Soon after, they walked into Flourish and Blotts and were greeted by a large sign right inside the door.

 **BOOK SIGNING— ERNEST MACMILLAN, WIZARDING HISTORIAN, FOR HIS NEW WORK, HOGWARTS: A HISTORY, REVISED EDITION**

"Look, Hermione, it's your dream come true," Rose's dad snickered, and Uncle Harry exchanged a look with Aunt Ginny.

"Ernie's a historian?" Uncle Harry asked.

"Does it really surprise you?" Aunt Ginny replied, and they ventured further into the store.

"Would you like to go see?" Aidan asked, sounding excited. "I've already gotten a copy from him, of course, last month or so, but I think you'd like it, there are so many things the other book glosses over—"

"Sure, let's go," Rose said, glad to be free of her family, and followed him to the back of the store where a man her parents' age who looked very stiff sat at a desk, discussing something intently with a very old woman. Aidan picked up a copy of the book and offered it to her, and Rose took it after a moment's hesitation, as she really was curious, and they walked back to the signing area to find it empty again. Ernest Macmillan looked up with interest when they approached, and smiled when he saw Aidan.

"Hello, Aidan, this must be Rose?"

Rose nodded. "Yes, pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Mr. Macmillan said, and she handed him the book. He signed it quickly and gave it back to her, adding, "Have a lovely dinner, and do say hello to your parents for me." Rose smiled, a little confused as she'd never heard them talk about Mr. Macmillan before, and walked back to the group with Aidan.

"Rose," her mother said, "I've got all your core class books, can I see your list for the electives?" Rose handed her mother the list and they continued the shopping. Next they backtracked to Quality Quidditch Supplies, at Hugo's request. Aidan looked around after they walked inside, seeming impressed by the shelves upon shelves of products.

"There's really all this stuff for Quidditch?" he remarked. "I honestly thought there wasn't much other than brooms and balls."

"Don't let Aunt Ginny hear you say that," Rose said, smiling a little, "it'll be the subject of the entire dinner."

"You need gloves for Keeping?" he asked, as if he hadn't really heard her, and wandered off down one of the aisles as Rose looked around the shop. While turning a corner past the cleaning kits, she collided with someone and quickly stepped back when she realized it was Rosier. He looked disgusted as he brushed off his robes.

"Weasley," he sniffed. "If you don't mind, I'd rather not have you touching my robes."

"Believe me, Rosier, it wasn't on purpose," Rose muttered, and he smirked.

"Saw your Mudblood boyfriend," he spat. "Seems you really do have no shame, eh?"

"You're the one lurking in the back of a shop, stalking people you hate. Goodbye, Rosier," Rose said. She knew he probably wouldn't try to hex her outside of school, but she was still nervous as she stepped forward, intending to go around him. He stepped in front of her path and crossed his arms.

"I wouldn't be so brave, if I were you," he said in a low voice, glancing down the aisle. "You won't be able to run to McGonagall this year. They'll be coming for you."

"Who's they?" Rose asked. Rosier laughed a little.

"Why the hell would I tell you that?" he asked, and stepped back. "Now run along to your blood traitor family. Don't say I didn't warn you." Rose wanted to say something, but she couldn't think of anything, and was still worried about getting attacked, so she walked past him as quickly as she could back to the front of the shop, where Hugo was buying a new bat.

"Everything all right, Rose? You look upset," her mother said when they started to leave.

"No, I'm all right, just tired," Rose said, and as they walked down the street, Aidan asked the same.

"I'll tell you later," she whispered, and they walked down the street. They had reached the apothecary and were about to go inside when they heard a crash from next door at Madam Malkin's. Rose watched as a couple of first years running out of the building with their parents and a jet of red light shot above their heads. She had just enough time to see three figures emerging from the store brandishing wands before she felt someone pull her inside the apothecary.

"Get down!" they said, and she realized it was her father. She ducked behind the counter where Al and Lily already were. The rest of their group ran through the doors and hid around the store, and Uncle Harry ran out of the store with her father following him.

"Ron!" her mother shouted after him, and he stopped for a second. "You said—"

"I have to go, Hermione, I'm sorry. Stay here with the kids!" He ducked out the door, where Rose could hear more spells being cast, and her mother looked livid.

"Stay here with—who does he think—" she muttered, before glancing out the window and standing up. "Likely," she snorted, and followed them outside. The clerk got up and closed the door, locked it, and pushed a chair in front of it.

"That won't do anything against a spell," Al muttered, and Lily glared at him, looking very nervous. "Sorry. Do you think Roxanne and Fred are okay?"

"I'm sure they got upstairs," Rose said, but she did try to see out the window whether the joke shop was damaged. She couldn't tell, it was too far away, but she tried to tell herself they'd be fine. "Do you think it's Nott?"

"I don't know—probably," Al said.

"It might be the Order," Lily interjected. "Aren't they looking for you two?" Al and Rose exchanged worried looks and she whispered, "Sorry."

"If it's the Order, they would've come through the Leaky Cauldron, I'd bet," Al said, "because they'd have gone for Scorpius first, and he's on the Muggle side."

"No, his shift's probably over," Rose said quietly, and Al looked at her oddly.

"How do you know—" At that moment, they heard loud banging on the door, and the clerk and Aunt Ginny stood up immediately, drawing their wands. James tried to follow suit, but one look from his mother made him retreat back to his hiding place behind a shelf of snake fangs.

"Let me in! Please!" they heard a voice shouting. Rose knew the voice, and she took a chance and looked out the window again.

"It's Devon, let him in!" Rose announced. They hesitated, and Rose jumped up, pushed the chair away, and unlocked the door before they could stop her. She threw the door open and Devon ran in before she closed the door immediately and barricaded it again. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I'm fine. Thanks, Rose," he said, still sounding out of breath. "I was at Gringotts—they made everyone evacuate, and no one would let me in at the ice cream parlor—"

"It's okay, you're safe, come on," she said, and he sat down behind the counter.

"Did you get a good look at the attackers?" Al asked.

"I—I don't know… I saw your parents fighting them, but I was trying not to be seen… er, I think they were in black. They had masks. They—they looked like Death Eaters."

"So it's Nott?" Al asked under his breath. Rose still wasn't sure, though.

"Were they wearing any green?" she asked.

Devon shook his head. "Er… no, I don't think so. Do you think it's Nott?"

"Probably," Rose sighed. "Or the people he broke out of Azkaban in third year… I don't know. We should just stay put." They heard a window crash into pieces outside and more yelling, and ducked as the voices got closer. Nothing happened to the apothecary, though, and after a while there was silence, then someone knocking on the door.

"Ginny, it's me!" Uncle Harry's muffled voice called from behind the door. Aunt Ginny got up and opened the door.

"Are you okay?" Uncle Harry asked immediately, running right up to her, and she nodded.

"I'm fine, what about you?"

"I'm all right, got a bit singed here but it's not bad," he said, showing a bit of his cloak that a hole had been burned through. "They got away, but we kept them from hurting anyone. Hermione called some people from the Department. I have to go lead a team to investigate, but you all should get home."

"Right," Aunt Ginny said. "Is the office all right?"

"The Prophet has a broken window but otherwise no damages. We got lucky, this was really just a skirmish." Uncle Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. "This is going to be a lot of work, though. I'll be home late."

"I figured," she said, "go on. Do what you have to." They kissed quickly and Uncle Harry ducked out again. Aunt Ginny turned around and said, "Okay, everyone, we're going to go through the Cauldron and take the Underground to Whitehall, they should give us a Ministry car. It'll be easier than Floo, I'm sure the network's pretty jammed right now."

Aidan ran over to her as she stood up from behind a shelf across the room and said, "You're okay, aren't you?"

"Never better," she said, and he nodded.

"Well… I think I should actually go home with Mr. MacMillan, he'll be worried."

"Oh, yeah, of course. I'll tell my parents," Rose said, not feeling as relieved as she'd thought she would.

"Okay. Good. Well… I'll see you at school," he said, and kissed her. Rose felt very conscious of everyone around them until he stopped and ducked out of the store. As soon as he'd left, her dad came back inside.

"Are you okay?" her dad asked

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "Where's Mom?"

"She has to stay for the investigation," he said. "I'm coming home with you lot. With me not technically being an Auror and all."

"Right. Okay, let's go," Aunt Ginny said.

They started to leave and Rose stopped briefly to ask Devon, "Will you be okay? Where's your mum?"

"Oh, yeah, she'll be coming to pick me up soon," Devon said, shrugging.

"You shouldn't stay here, it's still dangerous," she frowned. "Er, Scorpius might be at Jimmy Walker Records, and even if he's not, you'll be safer in the Muggle world, you should go."

"All right, I'll look there. See you at school," he said, and left the store with them and turned down the street the opposite way. As they walked towards the Underground station, Rose resisted the urge to follow him into the shop.

"It's weird they just left," Al commented. "You'd think they'd be looking for us or at least… for something."

"Maybe they're just trying to scare people," Hugo said from a little way in front of them, and Rose thought he was probably right. Either way, she was only too glad to be back in Muggle London.


	3. The New Scorpius Malfoy

**SORRY EVERYONE! Here's chapter 3 I'm so sorry for the wait but I hope you like it! I swear, I've actually written more already so it won't be long for chapter 4, probably around Monday. Thanks so much for reading! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 3

THE NEW SCORPIUS MALFOY

"So it's at the back of the whole train, yeah?" Al asked James after they had said goodbye to their parents. James rolled his eyes.

"Yes. For the fourth time. Relax, Al, I'm Head Boy. You won't get in trouble if you can't find it, but I can't imagine you won't—it's got a plaque on the door and everything."

"Okay, but— what about Lily? Where will she sit without us?"

"I have friends, you know," the youngest Potter said indignantly, "I don't need you to sit with me." Rose laughed at Al's offended face and pulled him along.

"Come on, we've got to find the carriage." The last week of summer had been uneventful in comparison to the attack, and all they had heard was that it was thought to be Nott's doing but there was no confirmation. Despite their efforts to get more information out of Uncle Harry and Rose's mum, they still didn't even know which of Nott's followers had been there that day. Rose was annoyed, but she knew that they would find out eventually, since it was most likely them that the attackers had been after. As she walked with Al down the hallway of the Hogwarts Express, she saw Rosier through one of the compartment windows and he stared back. Rose kept walking, a little shaken, and she could have sworn she had seen a smug smirk on his face. Eventually, they reached a blocked-off part of the train with a door labeled PREFECTS CARRIAGE, and they walked inside to find that it was much bigger than a compartment. In fact, it looked as if they had taken most of a car and opened it up so that it was a room with several benches and tables arranged in clumps throughout.

"Hey, guys!" Ava said from a bench in the back of the room. "If you could sit with your house for now that'd be brilliant, we'll get started once the train leaves the station."

Alice waved them over to the back right corner of the room and they sat down across from where she was sitting with a boy Rose had seen before, but never talked to. "Hey, guys, this is Hector Prince." Rose couldn't help but show a bit of surprise at the name and he smiled.

"Er, yeah, he's a pretty distant cousin. Sorry."

"Oh, no, it's fine," she said quickly, and Hector nodded.

"I'm sure; you're friends with the Malfoy kid, right?"

"Er, yeah, I suppose."

"I'm the only Gryffindor in the family, too," he said, and then James walked through the doors and sat down next to Al and Rose.

"Hey, everyone," he said, and Alice looked down at the floor. Rose knew that they had broken up, but she'd never been directly confronted with it and this was… awkward. After a while, a girl joined them that introduced herself as Gemma, the other seventh year Gryffindor prefect, and when the train began to move Ava called James over to the middle and they walked to the front of the carriage.

"All right, welcome everyone," Ava said. "If you don't already know me, my name's Ava Matthews, and this is James Potter, we're Head Boy and Girl. So if we could get started, I'll just make some announcements and then the sixth and seventh years can go out to the corridors and James and I will talk to the fifth years. First thing is McGonagall wants me to tell you that Prince has declared that participation in any… unofficial student groups is strictly prohibited and we're to give detentions and report anyone that does." She rolled her eyes and most of the people in the room laughed, and Rose realized that a good percentage of them were already in the Army. In fact, that seemed to have been the criteria for choosing the fifth-year prefects, she thought, with the exception of Lexa sitting in the corner glaring out at them. Ava laughed a little and said, "So, uh, I apparently have to completely ignore my girlfriend all year, so take that one with a grain of salt… No one's to use the Quidditch pitch without teacher supervision, it's a heightened security measure. Also, we're not supposed to go outside past 9:00, but the common room curfew's been moved back up to 10:30. The fifth years are leading the first years up tonight, like always, password's 'amortentia' and… that's about it for all of us. If you're dismissed, you know who you are." The sixth and seventh year Prefects stood up and Ava added, "That doesn't mean go sit in a compartment, actually patrol, please!"

"See you guys later," Alice said, and she, Hector and Gemma left the carriage with the other older Prefects.

"You guys can move closer," James said, and Rose stood up with Al and moved to the group of seats in the middle of the carriage. Devon waved at them quietly from his seat next to Lexa, and Rose noticed Amanda Finnigan-Thomas as well. She didn't recognize the Ravenclaw prefects or the Hufflepuff boy, but she thought she might have seen them at Modernist meetings years ago. "Okay, so I'm sure you guys know a lot of what a Prefect does. Mostly it's babysitting, honestly." A few laughed and Ava rolled her eyes.

"Well, yeah, and a bunch of other stuff," she said. "You do watch the first years when necessary, but you'll also be asked to supervise study halls and the holiday decorations and stuff like that. If you're not on a Quidditch team, you'll probably be asked to supervise the stands too."

"Oh, and you might do stuff like tutoring," James said, "I did sometimes my fifth year, but McGonagall thinks I was influencing them too much."

"Right," Ava said. "So anyway, if you guys want to go patrol—just make sure no one's duelling, honestly, they can use magic but not anything ridiculous and if anyone is using bloody fireworks on a moving train for Merlin's sake please confiscate it. Got it?" Everyone nodded and she said, "Great, be back by 5:30 and we'll get ready for the feast." "Come on, Rose," Al said, and pulled her down the hallway out of the prefect's carriage.

"Where are you going?" Rose protested, wrenching her arm away from him.

"Scorpius is sitting a few compartments down," Al said, and Rose stopped dead. Despite her curiosity all summer, when she was finally confronted with actually seeing him, she wanted to just hide in the back of the train for the rest of the ride.

"No, you go, I'll patrol," she said, and Al rolled his eyes.

"Please don't do this again," Al said. "He said he was sorry, okay? Come on."

"It's not that, I just—" Rose didn't get to finish because Al knocked on a compartment door and seconds later, Scorpius stepped out.

"Hey, Al!" he exclaimed, and Rose stared as they greeted each other. He was taller than her by quite a bit now; she wouldn't be surprised if he'd grown six inches since December. His hair was cut differently, shaved at the sides and long on the top for some reason. He was still wearing just as much black, but it was a lot less… Rose didn't know how to describe it. She didn't like it, that was for sure. He seemed to notice her after a few seconds and they both stood silently for a while.

"Er, hey, Weasley," he said. "How've you been?"

Oh, that was it.

"You sound American," she blurted out. Al looked confused.

"Er, no, not really—" Al tried to say, but Rose shook her head.

"No, he does."

Scorpius looked uncomfortable. "Uh, maybe a bit, I guess. I've been in London all summer, though."

"Yeah, I know," she said, then quickly added, "Teddy told me you moved in."

"Right," he said, and smiled tentatively. "Well, it's good to see you."

"Okay," Rose mumbled, and Scorpius glanced at Al.

"Uh, you guys are Prefects? That's brilliant, I would've wanted to—but I guess since I was gone—"

"Yeah, you were," Rose muttered, and Scorpius stopped and looked frustrated.

"Look, Rose, I'm sorry, okay? I just didn't want to upset you."

"So you thought just disappearing would upset me less?" she exclaimed, and Al snuck into the compartment, where he and Grace Zabini quickly shut the door.

Scorpius shook his head and said, "Listen, I just had to get away, okay? With the trial, and…"

"And I would have understood, if you'd told me! Like Al! Why could you tell him and not me?"

"Whatever," he muttered, looking at the floor. "Can we just forget it?"

"…No, I—"

"Come on, Weasley—"

"Don't call me that," she muttered. "If you'll excuse me, I have to patrol the corridor."

Scorpius seemed to change his mind suddenly and said quietly, "Last year, all that stuff with the Prophet and Lucy—are you okay?"

"Excuse me," Rose said firmly, and Scorpius reluctantly stepped to the edge of the corridor. Rose shook her head, walking past him and down to the front of the train. Once they reached the castle, the feast went by fairly quickly, though to Rose it felt like years sitting two spaces down from Scorpius, who was telling everyone all about his wonderful semester in America. She didn't speak at all for the whole dinner, and was grateful when McGonagall dismissed everyone and she was able to shout, "First years, follow us!" and have an excuse to avoid him at least, if not Al. This was the first year that she didn't know any of the new first years, and it was odd that they were all looking at her. She started up the stairs with Al next to her and all the first years behind her, and he said, "This is just weird."

"I know," Rose whispered. "But I suppose that's how they always feel."

"Molly didn't," Al snorted. "She'd been aiming for prefect since first year."

"That's probably true," Rose laughed, and they kept climbing the stairs until they reached the portrait on the seventh floor. She turned around to face the first years along with Al and said, "Hi, everyone! Welcome to Gryffindor! This is the entrance to the House, you'll be able to get in with the password that changes periodically, it'll be posted on the memo board in the common room. Just tell the Fat Lady and she'll let you in."

"Who's the Fat Lady?" one of the first years asked, a small blond boy that looked like he was swimming in his robes.

Al gestured behind them and the Fat Lady sat up proudly as some of the students, probably Muggleborns, gasped. "Password?"

"Amortentia," Rose replied, and the portrait hole swung open. She led the way inside, the younger students following her excitedly.

"This is the common room," Al said, and Rose couldn't help but be distracted by the group sitting by the fireplace—Roxanne, Emma, Declan, and Scorpius—and tried to pay attention to the first years while Al expained curfew and the staircases. "If anyone has any questions about anything, you can come ask us any time, or anyone with these badges no matter what House, they should help you. So if you need to find us, her name's Rose Weasley and I'm Al Potter, we're fifth years—"

"Like Harry Potter?" a small girl in the front asked. Al looked uncomfortable, like he always did when someone asked him about his family.

"Er, yeah, he's my dad. So if anyone has questions—"

"Did he really fight Voldemort as a baby?"

"Questions about the House," Al interrupted. The first years were silent and he forced a smile. "Okay, brilliant. Good night." The first years dispersed and Rose laughed a little when Al grimaced at her.

"They're only curious," she said, and he rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, come on," Al replied, and went to sit with the group near the fireplace. Rose felt apprehension in the pit of her stomach and shook her head.

"Er, I'm going to go up to bed, actually, I'm pretty tired," she said. Al looked at her, confused.

"It's 9:30," he said, and she nodded.

"Yeah, I know, I just— I'll see you in the morning." With that, she hurried up the staircase and out of sight, catching a glimpse of Scorpius looking at her from across the room just as she turned the corner to the dormitories.


	4. McGonagall's Invitation

**Hi everyone! Sorry about the break but here's the next chapter! There will be another one next week too! Thanks so much for reading! -Kelly :)**

CHAPTER 4

MCGONAGALL'S INVITATION

Rose got up at 8:30 that morning, the earliest she had probably been awake since June, and went down to get her schedule with Min as she struggled to keep her eyes open. When they reached Rudomin's office, Min knocked on the door and he opened it quickly. "Welcome back, both of you. Schedules are in the folder on my desk." They entered and Min found hers quickly. While Rose flipped through to find hers, Rudomin added, "Oh, Rose, your prefect duties have been printed on the schedule for you."

"Oh, okay, thanks, Professor," Rose said, looking at Min confused. She was beginning to realize there was probably more to being a prefect than she'd thought from James's description. They went back to the Great Hall and sat down at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table, though the only one already there was Emma. As soon as they'd sat down, Rose began to read her schedule.

WEASLEY, ROSE; YEAR 5; GRYFFINDOR

Monday: 10:00—Transfiguration, 11:00—DADA, 1:00—Charms, 2:00—Muggle Studies, 3:00—Herbology, 4:00—Arithmancy 10:00—Curfew

Tuesday: 10:00—Double Potions, 1:00—Ancient Runes 2:00—History of Magic, 3:00—Arithmancy 4:00—DADA 7:30—Study Hall Duties

Wednesday: 10:00—Double Transfiguration, 1:00—Charms, 2:00—Muggle Studies, 3:00—Herbology, 4:00—Ancient Runes 10:00—Curfew

Thursday: 10:00—Muggle Studies, 11:00—Potions, 1:00—Arithmancy, 2:00 History of Magic 3:00—DADA 4:00—Charms 7:30—Study Hall Duties

Friday: 10:00—History of Magic 11:00—Herbology 1:00—Transfiguration, 2:00—Ancient Runes, 3:00—Potions 5:00–Prefect Meeting 11:00 pm—Astronomy

"Merlin, look at this," Rose said, showing Min, and her cousin's eyes widened as she read.

"Bloody hell, you'd think they'd give you one night off."

"Well, I suppose the Curfew part is on Mondays and Wednesdays because of Quidditch practice," Rose said, "so at least I can still do that."

"You'll probably be with Al on all these, then, if it's scheduled around Quidditch," Emma pointed out.

"Yeah, that's true."

"Have you seen this?" Al's voice asked incredulously from behind them, and Rose turned around and nodded at him as he and Scorpius entered the Hall, sitting down as usual. "I'm going to be bloody exhausted, and forget E's this term."

"You'll be fine, James manages and Molly always did."

"Molly's a genius, and James has a superhuman power of always coming out of everything fine," Al muttered, and Rose didn't bother to argue. She wasn't sure he knew as much about his brother's problems as she did; actually, she was almost certain he didn't. "When do you have everything?"

"Well, you've got your free period while I've got Arithmancy," Rose said. Al grinned.

"Oh, yeah, forgot about that. Life is wonderful when you drop Creatures. What about the Prefect stuff?"

"Curfew Mondays and Wednesdays, study hall Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"Me too. Do you know who the new Potions teacher is?"

"No, but we don't have them until tomorrow," Rose told him, and Al groaned.

"I hate that. I've got to find out what they're like from… who has Potions this morning?"

"I don't know, I think first and second years," she said, and Al shook his head.

"So we'll just have to wait then, brilliant. Maybe at least Defense will be interesting." The rest of breakfast preceded a little awkwardly, as Rose spoke to everyone except for Scorpius, who sat quietly next to Al and only interjected anything when Al brought him into the conversation. She was only too glad to get up to go to Transfiguration, and walked with Min the whole time. She sat down purposefully in the other seat at Min's table. Her cousin looked at her, a little surprised.

"Not sitting with Malfoy?" she asked.

"No," Rose replied quickly, and began to take out her books as busily as possible.

"Are you sure, Rose?" she asked, and Rose sighed.

"Yes, Min, I'm sure. You're farther up anyway, and I'd like to see better."

"That's complete rubbish. And Al's going to get mad at me for making him move."

"It's a new term, he hasn't got to move anywhere."

"We have been sitting in the same seats for over four years now."

"I know. I'm not sitting with Malfoy, though." Rose opened her book and began to read the preface, trying to tell Min the conversation was over. She seemed to take the hint and kept silent when Al and Scorpius came in and Al sat a little hesitantly at the seat usually reserved for Rose.

"Good morning," Professor McGonagall called out loudly as she entered through the double doors at the back of the classroom, and everyone not seated already hurried to do so. She

walked briskly up to the front of the room and stood in front of the students. "I'm sure most of you already have a fairly good idea whether or not you will be continuing the study of Transfiguration at the NEWT level. If you have not given thought to this, remember that Transfiguration is one of the most widely required NEWT subject in terms of qualifications for fields of study. Since you will be taking the OWL examinations this year, I feel I should inform you that in order to qualify for NEWT Transfiguration, you must obtain at least a grade of E in both semesters this year and an E on your OWL examination. Just something to bear in mind. Now, we will begin the year by discussing transfiguration of animals." Rose took notes the rest of the class, ignoring Scorpius as well as she could, and was about to leave without having said a word when McGonagall called out, "Miss Weasley, could you stay behind for a moment? Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy as well." Rose walked up to the headmistress's desk and she almost smiled. "Welcome back, Miss Weasley. I trust you're settling into your duties as Prefect?"

"Er, yes, but I wasn't aware we had so many… responsibilities," Rose said hesitantly as Al and Scorpius walked up to them from their table.

"I'm sure you'll manage as well as anyone. Now that all three of you are here, I'd like to ask you to come to my office this Wednesday at 9:00 pm. I believe I've arranged for your curfew duties to begin at 10:00?" Rose nodded and McGonagall continued. "I'd like to meet with all three of you to discuss some of the developments from the last term."

"Do you mean the connection, Professor?" Al asked.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, and how to control it," McGonagall said. "But the three of you should go to your next class. We'll discuss it further on Wednesday." They left the room quickly and Al immediately began to talk once they had gone out of the room.

"What do you think she's going to do about it? Is she going to try to take it away, because… well, it's mental, but it's saved our lives more than once."

"I don't think she's going to get rid of it, that's not what she said," Scorpius said. "She was talking about controlling it."

"Well, I'd like to control it. Maybe even get rid of it," Rose said quietly.

"Don't like being connected to me, Weasley?" Scorpius muttered and Rose stopped in her tracks.

"Not in the least, Malfoy," she said coldly, and Al stood there, more than a little uncomfortable, as he stared at her with an expression she couldn't read. It only made her angrier that she couldn't; she used to know him so well that she could almost always tell.

She wasn't about to let him intimidate her, however, and stared back evenly until he looked away and said, "We'd better go to class." She followed him and Al without saying a word and walked towards Min's side of their long table in Defence until Al grabbed her arm and steered her to the end of their table where Scorpius was already sitting down.

"Are you serious?" she protested.

"Completely," he said. "You're going to sit together in at least one class, I reckon you need to if you're ever going to speak to each other again."

"Can't you at least sit on my other side?" she asked when Al began to walk all the way to the other side. He shook his head and smiled pointedly as he sat down between Min and Devon, leaving her the aisle seat next to Scorpius. She sat down in a huff, practically throwing her bag onto the ground and hoping he wouldn't speak to her. Luckily enough, Rudomin entered almost immediately after and began to lecture.

"Good morning to all of you and welcome back to Hogwarts," he said, and Rose noticed that he looked slightly different than he had last year. His hair was more closely cropped and he seemed considerably more tired than before. "I trust you all know that the Ministry has revoked most of their evaluation program, and while Mr. Prince will continue to make routine visits to the school it's apparent that their curriculum adjustments are in fact gone." Most of the Gryffindors, along with a surprising number of Slytherins, clapped and cheered and Rudomin waited with a smile for the noise to die down. "So, taking advantage of my restored freedom in teaching my own class, though I am rather sad to see Leah Shafiq go, I would like to ask you all a question today. You're well into your education now and some of you are only about a year away from being of age in the magical world, so I ask you this. Why do we study Defense Against the Dark Arts? Why are you required to take five years of this class and strongly encouraged to take two more?" Rudomin paused for a few seconds and said, "The Ministry of Magic would have you believe that it's merely a theoretical study, or maybe a precursor to Auror training for a select few. I say otherwise. You've studied defensive magic, offensive jinxes and hexes, protective spells, healing spells, and duelling in this class, and I'd like someone to tell me why."

The class was silent until Al tentatively said, "To protect ourselves."

"Yes, Al, but it's more than that," Rudomin said. "You need to know how to protect each other. And you need to trust each other." There was a considerable amount of uncomfortable glances between the two Houses and Rudomin nodded. "I know it's a bit of a challenge for this group. So I'd like to present some evidence." He walked to the board at the back of the class and turned it over to reveal a collage of newspaper clippings, all it seemed from the past few years. "These are all wanted notices of Azkaban escapees, coupled with any sightings or homicides connected with them. I can fill an entire board with these articles, and I've been conservative in inclusion here. These are all since your year started at Hogwarts. You'll notice a significant number of incidents occurred on Hogwarts grounds. What's the solution to so many deaths occurring?"

"Reforming Azkaban? If the Minister and Harry Potter hadn't gotten rid of the dementors none of these people would have escaped," Lexa said.

"Actually, Miss Rae, I wasn't really looking for systematic torture as a solution, but thank you," Rudomin said, and Rose had to stop herself from grinning. "No, the solution is to teach people how to defend themselves, and how to defend the people around them. The Ministry would say that children shouldn't have to know how to do this. But I say that while the state of Britain and possibly the world becomes more and more unpredictable, it's necessary for everyone to learn as much as they can. So you won't be using your textbooks much in this class, we'll be taking a practical approach this term. We'll practice Shield charms now, with a partner, I'll be coming around to watch." Rose jumped up to work with Min, and they retreated into a corner of the classroom to practice.

"That was intense," Min laughed. "It's good though, some of the Slytherins need to hear it."

"Some Gryffindors, too. I wonder how Dylan took that speech," Rose said, and Min nodded.

"Git. He's dating Alana now by the way, did you know? Roxanne saw them snogging on the train."

"Are you sure? She's smarter than that," Rose protested, and Min nodded.

"Well, yeah, but she also knows exactly who Al hates." Rose rolled her eyes and aimed another half-hearted Disarming spell at Min's Shield Charm, to no effect. "At least I can finally get these to work."

"Great technique, Min," Rudomin said, stopping to watch as Rose cast her own. He nodded in approval as Min cast a few weak jinxes that were frozen at first contact with the Charm and said, "I am glad to see that you've come back, Rose, I was a little worried your parents would send you somewhere else after all the chaos last year."

"I was almost charged with libel by the Ministry but my mum had a row with my uncle and he dropped it," Rose told him, remembering the horrible week in the middle of July when she'd thought she'd be expelled from Hogwarts. "But I'm not going anywhere else, I want to help Lucy as much as I can."

"Hypothetically speaking, if the Army were to still be happening this year, would there be any need for guest teachers?" Rudomin asked quietly and Rose grinned.

"Well, possibly. We'll see if we can start the Modernists again and if we can't then we might be."

"Were you in Dumbledore's Army, Professor?" Min asked, and he shook his head.

"No, no, not the original group, I was too young. I was only a third year for the Battle of Hogwarts. Dennis Creevey and I did know about it, though, and we were lookouts for the resistance in the last year of the war. That's how I met Professor Longbottom. Of course, my mother found out after the war and nearly killed me. They sent me to Koldovstoretz after that, the Russian school." He noticed they were staring at him in shock and grinned. "Er, I'll go check on Al and Scorpius. Good work, though, you two."

"Were you expecting that?" Min asked. Rose shook her head. "All right then." They continued practicing until the class let out for lunch, and Rose avoided Scorpius the whole walk to the Great Hall.


	5. Lucy's Plan

**Hey everyone! I'm really sorry it took so long, but here's Chapter 5! I swear I'll be posting more soon. Thanks so much for reading! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 5

LUCY'S PLAN

"I think I might have really gotten in this year, that was the best I've ever done," Hugo said as he walked back to the castle with Rose after Quidditch tryouts.

She laughed a little and said, "You know that James is the Captain this year. He isn't going to put you in over Fred and Harry."

"That's not fair, that's… nepotism!"

"Actually the opposite, but whatever, Hugo." Her brother grumbled as they continued up the path, and as they turned the corner by the lake, they saw Al and Scorpius waiting by the entrance.

"Oh, right, you've got your meeting with McGonagall, don't you," Hugo said.

"Yeah," Rose said quietly, surprised that they had been waiting for her. "Just go up to the common room, I'm sure Tyler's free at least."

"Tyler won't stop talking about Emma. It's annoying as hell. I'm going to find Collin, he's probably at study hall."

They reached the other two after a few moments and Scorpius said, "Hi, Hugo, how've you been?"

"Good… I think it's my cue to leave, though," he said, glancing at Rose, and walked into the castle with a wave, lugging his broom and bat with him.

"Er, let's go," Al said awkwardly, and they entered the castle as well, Rose hanging back a ways behind the other two.

Scorpius fell behind Al to walk with Rose after a while and said, "You did well at tryouts."

"Of course I did."

"…Right, well, I hope you make the team."

"You should be worried about yourself, James is picking the team."

"James ought to pick the best people, even if he doesn't like me. We can both be on the same team, Weasley."

"I hope not," Rose muttered, and Scorpius sighed.

"God, Weasley, tell me what I have to do to make this stop."

"You can stop trying to be my friend, that's a start."

Scorpius ran his hand through his hair and rolled his eyes. "I'm not. Al made me wait, I didn't want to."

"Well, tell Al to stop," she said. He stared for a second, almost surprised.

"I will."

"Could you two please shut up?" Al interjected. "Let's just get where we're going." They walked the rest of the way in silence and reached the headmistress's office without any incident, though Rose watched Scorpius the whole time. She didn't know why, but she was almost angry that he didn't seem very affected by what she said. She knew it was stupid, but she couldn't stop thinking that he clearly didn't care anymore. There was no reason that she should. Al knocked on the door when they arrived, but there was no response. He looked back at them and shrugged. "The door's open, come on." They entered to find an empty office, except for the number of former headmasters and headmistresses looking at them curiously from their portraits. One of them, an old frail-looking woman with bright purple robes, spoke to them.

"The headmistress is in a meeting."

Rose glanced at Al and said, "Er, she's supposed to meet with us."

"Young lady, the Ministry of Magic is rather more important than whatever you've come for."

"You're right, it's only the Third Wizarding War," Scorpius replied quickly, and the woman looked quite offended, disappearing into her frame, bound for some other portrait.

"You've offended… er, Heliotrope Wilkins," Al told him, reading the small placard below the portrait frame. "Though she died in 1907, so…"

"Bit dramatic, maybe, but got the point across, didn't it?" Scorpius said, and Al laughed. Rose looked around the room, and all the familiar decor; she'd likely been in the office more than any other student in her year, which she didn't exactly see as a good thing. However, she did notice one change in the room; there was now a mirror hanging above a rusty wrought iron cabinet in a corner near McGonagall's desk. Rose looked closer and realized that she couldn't see herself in the mirror; in fact, the reflection didn't look as if it were reflecting the same room at all. The reflection appeared to be of some dark wooden surface, and Rose was still staring at it when the door at the back of the office swung open and McGonagall came into the room along with Prince.

"I see you have another appointment," Prince said, and smiled politely at the three of them. "I hope you'll bear my suggestions in mind, Minerva."

"…Of course, Iain, Hogwarts is always perfectly willing to work with the Ministry of Magic when the situation calls for it." "Yes, I'm sure…" Prince seemed to notice Rose's glare for the first time and nodded curtly. "Miss Weasley. Ah, I should be getting back to the Ministry; I'll be back in a few weeks to check up on everything. Good night," he said quickly and left the office briskly. McGonagall watched as the door swung shut before speaking.

"I'm sorry about that, Mr. Prince came into my office without any warning; I've told him to inform us before his next visit, but, well, I'm not very confident he will. Let's get started. I expect you've been told that your connection can be dangerous."

"Er, yeah, more than once," Al said. "It hasn't caused us any problems, though. It's actually helped us, honestly."

"I know. Miss Shafiq told me. Which is why your father and I have agreed that it's best to not attempt to remove the connection entirely."

"What's this got to do with my father?" Al asked.

"This is of interest to the Auror department, of course, as a matter of security."

"The connection can't be a national security threat," Al said, laughing a little, "…er, is it?"

"It might be," McGonagall said grimly, and crossed to her desk to pick up three dusty copies of the same leather-bound book. Rose recognized it as one of the copies was given to her. "We're taking a more defensive approach, though. This book is called The Magical Mind; it's more theoretical than anything but it will teach you quite a bit about how enchantments can affect your mind, especially those such as this one. You'll need to read this throughout our time here."

"Rose, counting on you," Al whispered as he took the book from McGonagall tentatively. The headmistress shot him a stern look as Scorpius took the last copy and went to stand in front of the three of them at the bottom of the steps up to her desk.

"How much do you know about Occlumency?" she asked them.

"It's the act of magically closing one's mind against Legilimency," Rose said quickly, and McGonagall nodded.

"And Legilimency?"

"The act of magically navigating a person's mind and correctly interpreting the findings," she said.

"Congratulations, you've got memorization skills down," Scorpius muttered.

"Correct," McGonagall said. "Legilimency and Occlumency are both very difficult branches of magic and are not traditionally taught at Hogwarts because of this. That being said, have any of you studied it in any capacity?"

"I was in the honors program at Salem," Scorpius said. "There was a unit in the Advanced Magic elective I was taking on it."

"Do you have any practical experience, Mr. Malfoy?" McGonagall asked.

"Er, a little. We only spent about a month on it, but I could probably do some…"

"Well, I won't ask you to try something this taxing if you don't know exactly what you're doing, but the background knowledge could be useful in these lessons. If you're still in contact with any of your American peers, perhaps all three of you could talk to them if they've studied it in more depth." Rose tried very hard not to show her dismay at the thought of it, though Scorpius glanced at her apprehensively before he nodded. "Anyway, we should get started; our lesson for today will be finished shortly, as you will need practice before we can truly begin. Our first priority will be to help you protect yourselves from anyone who might want to access your minds through one or all three of you, but eventually we'll move on to ways that you can more effectively use this connection to your advantage. The primary technique in resisting a Legilimens is to completely empty your mind. You will need to think of nothing at all when they attempt to see into your mind. You will need to practice this on your own before it will be beneficial to test your skills. Understood?" They nodded and McGonagall said, "All right, then, you may go. These meetings will usually be about an hour long, however."

"Thanks, Professor," Rose said, and the three of them left the office and began walking back to the Gryffindor common room. When they reached the common room, Rose worked on an essay for Charms until Al stood up from the sofas and Rose knew they had to leave for Curfew duties. She followed Al out of the common room and walked with him down to the Prefect commons.

"I hate doing this. I feel like a bloody professor. Why do we have to tell people to go to bed? What if we run into people snogging or something? That's mad, it's not like I'm going to tap them on the shoulder and say, 'Hate to disturb you, but it's past curfew'—"

"Well, James just takes walks. He doesn't even look for people. I've heard that's what most of them do," Rose said.

"It's not like it even stops people sneaking out. We only patrol until curfew hits. After that anyone can leave as long as they aren't stupid about it."

"I know, Al, but if I see a first year I am going to tell them to go to bed—"

"We snuck out as first years."

"And nearly died!" Rose reminded him.

"Okay, well it's not our fault a bloody cult was in the school—"

"A cult that's still alive and well and trying to get into Hogwarts. This isn't exactly a year where we want first years wandering around alone," Rose said.

"All right, Rosie, I was only joking. I get it, it's dangerous."

"We're practically at war, Al. Probably will be for sure soon."

"I know." They reached the Prefect commons and Rose tapped the pattern into the wall. It opened to reveal the small room where Ava and James stood, directing a few of the other Prefects out.

"You guys can patrol the third floor," Ava said, then said more quietly, "Lucy will be up there working on Army plans, let her stay. She might want to talk to you, actually."

"Right," Rose said, and they left quickly for the third floor. When they arrived at the location of the Room of Requirement, Rose started to pace and thought of the key words as Al waited by her.

"Do you think we really have to read that book? I mean, how much could it really help more than practice?" Al asked. Rose stopped and sighed.

"Al, we can't get in if you don't let me think."

"Sorry, but really, of course you're going to read it but I think I'll be fine if I don't—"

The door appeared in front of them and Al rolled his eyes. "Glad you're paying attention." They entered and found Lucy sitting in a corner of the room with a journal, writing furiously. "Hey, Lucy."

"Hi, guys. Did Ava tell you what I'm working on?"

"No, she just said to let you stay here," Al said, and Lucy nodded.

"Okay, well, can you sit for a minute?" Al glanced at Rose and they walked over to sit in front of Lucy. "How much do you guys know about the Wizengamot?"

"Well, they preside over the court, and they have legislative power—" Rose started to say and Lucy nodded.

"Yes, they're basically Parliament, but there's more. The Wizengamot appoints the representatives for the International Confederation of Wizards."

"We know that, Lucy," Al said.

"Well, what if I told you that the appointment committee's been bribed by Davis and Clarke for years?"

"I'd believe you, everyone knows the Wizengamot's corrupt," Rose said.

"You'd think, but actually a lot of people don't. That's what Bella wants us to fix."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"I want to do exposes on the Wizengamot members," Lucy said. "We can publish in the Prophet like last year."

"Yeah, but everyone knows it's us now, Lucy," Rose said.

"I know," Lucy said, "but Prince doesn't have any real power anymore, and McGonagall agrees, she won't stop us."

"It's a serious liability for the Prophet," Rose reminded her. Lucy nodded.

"I know. That's why I need you to convince your mum to publish us, Al."

Al looked surprised. "Er, I'm not sure she'll agree to that—"

"She might, she defended us at Christmas last year, and Uncle Harry was only pretending not to," Rose reminded him.

Al hesitated before saying, "All right, I'll do it."

Lucy grinned. "Great, thanks, Al."

"I assume you'll want me to write?" Rose asked.

"If you don't mind," Lucy said. "Er, I can help you with the research."

"Sure, of course," Rose said, and Lucy smiled and pushed over a piece of parchment to her.

"This is the first Wizengamot member, name's Patricia Thorpe. Took over 3,000 Galleons from Davis over the last 14 years or so, appointment, reappointment and support for motions in the House." Rose looked through the parchment and put it in her bag. "Go ahead and keep patrolling, I'll see you tomorrow and we can work out the details. Oh, and Rose, can you stay for a bit?"

"I'll be outside," Al said. "I'll write my mum tomorrow morning."

"Brilliant, thanks Al." Al left the Room and Lucy looked up from her work again.

"Now that Stephanie's graduated, I'd like you to be Vice President." Rose looked at her, surprised.

"Er…really? Aidan's probably—"

"Aidan's not as committed as you, you know that," Lucy said. "You can pick your successor as secretary."

"Are you sure about this?" Rose asked.

"Of course I am," Lucy said. "I want you to take over when I graduate."

"Lucy…"

"What? You're the only one of them that's been to the protests, Bella knows you, you've got a public following, you're the perfect choice. Please do this for me, Rose," Lucy said, and Rose hesitated. She knew that Lucy was right, but it was a lot of responsibility. She wasn't sure that she could be as fearless as Lucy was—ironic that she felt like less of a Gryffindor than the first ever Weasley not to be one. She knew, though, that she had to do it, and nodded.

"All right. I'll do it."

"Thank you so much, Rose. I'll find you tomorrow, we can talk about the first meeting." Rose nodded and turned to the door. As she opened the door to the corridor she looked back at Lucy and her work and suddenly became very concerned for what would happen to her cousin after the end of her time at Hogwarts.


	6. The Ghost in the Owlery

**Hi guys! Thanks so much for reading! Please review! Thanks! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 6

THE GHOST IN THE OWLERY

It was almost two weeks after Al sent a letter to his mother that she finally replied. Al ran into supper that day from the Owlery at breakneck speed and slammed the letter on the table in front of Rose. "You're set!"

20 September 2021

Dear Al,

I'm so glad to hear from you, it might be a record. I don't think we've gotten a letter this fast since James's first year. To answer Rose and Lucy, I trust they understand the risk involved in this kind of a series. However, I am rather fond of freedom of the press, so, since I think they couldn't be more right, I'll publish their essays. I think a lot of people are very angry about the state of the government and it's important to give them the truth. Tell Lucy not to worry about Uncle Percy, I'll tell him to grow up. This wouldn't be happening if he cared about having an honest administration anyway, he has veto power over the appointments. Send the letters to my professional office, it'll look too biased if I'm bringing in letters from home. Hope you all are well; tell your brother and sister, and for that matter Rose and Hugo as well, that they have to come home for Christmas this year; Annie isn't going to be abandoned by the whole family.

Love,

Mum

"Brilliant! I'll send the first letter tonight," Rose said.

"What letter?" Scorpius asked, and Rose glanced reluctantly at him.

"We're exposing the corrupt Wizengamot members. Ones that take bribes and things like that."

"You mean all of them?" Scorpius snorts.

"My mother has a seat, Malfoy," Rose said sharply. He shrugged. "What exactly does that mean?"

"Nothing, Weasley, whatever," he muttered.

Al quickly interjected, "So I've been having trouble with that Muggle Studies essay about the Industrial Revolution—"

"My mother doesn't take bribes," Rose said, and Al sighed.

"I give up," he muttered to Min, and Scorpius rolled his eyes at Rose.

"I believe you, calm down. It's not her only job and you and her are both far too strident to do anything like that—"

"Then why did you say all of them?" Rose asked insistently.

"Oh, my God, Weasley, just drop it."

"Please!" Al added. Scorpius stared at her for a second before getting up and pulling his bag over his shoulder.

"I'm going to the library," he muttered.

"You aren't going to study hall?" Al asked. Scorpius shook his head.

"She'll be there," he said quietly, and walked out of the Great Hall quickly.

Rose watched him leave and cleared her throat awkwardly. "So we should start setting up the tutoring area?"

"Yeah, sure," Al sighed, and they got up to move to a corner of the table as most of the students filtered out of the Hall. "You know, I feel like you two are just picking fights at this point."

"What? No we aren't," Rose said indignantly as she took out her books and her old notes from younger years. "He was the one who started that."

"Why are you guys fighting so much anyway?" he asked. "I know you're really upset about last year, whatever, but he already apologized for that—"

"And has been completely awful since!" Rose insisted.

"He tried to apologize on the train. We could have avoided all of this but you decided you wanted to be mad."

"Al, no I—"

"Look, I don't want to take sides but I can't get torn between you two. I'm not going to be the mediator all year," Al sighed.

A small first year boy walked up to him and asked shyly, "Er, can you help me with my Charms homework?"

"Maybe," Al said. "I still can't do that bloody dancing charm."

The boy looked alarmed and said, "Er, no, it's just the Light stuff. Lumos?"

"Oh, well, sure," Al said, and Rose sat next to them, only becoming angrier at Scorpius the more she thought about the whole situation, until a first year girl sat down across from her and set down her Transfiguration books down a little more forcefully than was probably necessary. Rose looked up at the girl, who was quite small with messy dark hair gathered in a bun and loosely fitting Gryffindor robes and was looking at her expectantly.

"You're Rose Weasley?" she asked. She had a thick Scottish accent and was much less shy than Al's first year.

"Er, yes," Rose said. "What do you need help with?"

"Transfiguration. Or, really, I don't need help yet, but Great Aunt Minerva says I should get extra help from you so I can be really good at it."

Rose looked at the girl, alarmed, and noticed that she did look a little like the headmistress. "…Great Aunt Minerva?"

"Yeah," she said. "I'm Arya Collins. My mum's her niece."

"…Okay," Rose said faintly, and quickly sat up a little straighter. "She, er, told you to come to me?"

"She says you're the best," Arya said, shrugging. "I don't really need help, I'm doing fine. Could you teach me anything more advanced?"

"Well, let's, er, go over what you're learning right now, I might be able to… talk to you more in depth about it."Arya shrugged. "Okay." She opened her textbook and flipped to the second chapter. "We're learning about the Transfiguration formula. I know what all the variables stand for, except for Z."

"Well, it's unknown, that's the point," Rose said, and Arya sighed.

"Yeah, I know, but I didn't know if it's actually unknown or if it's just too complicated for first year magic."

"Well… it's mostly unknown, but they know sort of where it comes from, it has to do with theoretical physics—" Rose began to explain, and Arya interrupted as she noticed Rose's textbook.

"Can I read about it in your book?" she asked eagerly, and Rose felt as if this wasn't quite what McGonagall had meant.

"Er, you haven't applied the formula to anything we should practice?"

"No, it's all been written so far. And I've known the Runic alphabet since I was eight. Please?" she asked again, and Rose conceded, handing her the book. She grinned and flipped to the index before intently reading for about half an hour. Rose took the time to finish her essay on Patricia Thorpe, and Arya looked up from the book just as she was editing the final copy. "What's that?"

"It's, er…" Arya had already begun reading the essay, twisting around so she could see it right side up, and looked confused.

"What subject is that? Is there a Government elective or something?"

"No… well, yes, but not until NEWT level," Rose said. "It's for the Daily Prophet."

Arya's eyes widened then and she said, "You're the Progressive Union writer? I heard about you, I remember now!"

"Oh, well, yes, I suppose," Rose said. "We're going to start talking about corruption in the government."

"Cool, can I help? Ooh, can I join? I want to join. Grandpa was always talking about how Muggles need to know about us, he said that his dad was really mean about it. Great Aunt Minerva won't talk about it, but I know she supports it too."

"Well, it's kind of dangerous, Arya, we aren't very official right now."

Arya rolled her eyes. "I don't care! I want to help! If you don't tell me when you guys meet I'll find someone who does. I bet most of them are in Gryffindor even."

Rose looked at the girl and decided she really wasn't going to let it go. She hoped she didn't get in trouble with McGonagall and said, "…We meet Saturdays on the third floor, 3:00. There'll be people there, just follow them to get into the Room."

Arya grinned and said, "Thanks, Rose. You're cool. You seem pretty smart, too, Great Aunt Minerva was right. I'll see you Saturday!" Arya grabbed her books and ran out of the Hall, and Rose saw her joining with a group of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors in the Entrance Hall before climbing up to the towers.

"Who was that?" Al asked from a little way down the table.

"McGonagall's her great aunt," Rose said. Al looked shocked.

"McGonagall has family? I kinda just imagined her living at Hogwarts all the time." Rose shrugged and turned her attention to the third year Hufflepuff coming towards them with ink stains all over his hands. "That's a paper, you're taking that one," Al said quickly, and Rose glared at him as the boy sat down in front of her frantically and started ranting about History of Magic and how all the Hufflepuff prefects are taken. Rose soon learned the boy's name was Preston and immersed herself in the European gold standard of the 16th century until study hall was over and Preston had 24 inches of material. Al walked up the stairs to Gryffindor tower while Rose made her way to the Owlery to send out the first essay. When she emerged out into the small alcove at the top of one of the tallest towers, she was surprised to find that the clouds had become dark and covered the entire sky with a thin, gloomy layer of gray. It had been relatively nice outside for the last few weeks. She also found one of the teenage ghosts sitting on the edge of the balcony. He looked up when she entered and smiled a little.

"Hi, Rose. It's Colin, you've probably seen me, with James…"

"Oh, yeah, hi," she said. "I'm just sending out a letter.""Good, looks like some heavy rain might come," Colin said. Rose nodded as she walked up to Musetta's perch and stroked her feathers. Rose made a decision quickly then as she added her own name to the envelope hesitantly. She handed her the letter and Musetta quickly took off for London. Colin watched her fly away and asked, "Letter or…?"

"It's for the Prophet," Rose said, and Colin smiled.

"Like last year?" She nodded.

"More or less."

"Good… though I have to warn you, you might make even more enemies."

"I've already got plenty," Rose said. She sighed. "I should probably get back to the tower—"

"Rose?" Colin stopped her before she left the Tower and said, "Stay out of the Forest. There's a lot out there that you might not like."

"I've been fine before, but thanks," she said, and he shook his head.

"It's different this year. There's more and it's worse. I don't—I don't think I should tell you or they might go after you, just—leave it alone, okay?"

"…Okay," Rose said slowly, and added, "Good night, Colin," before leaving the Owlery. Rose walked a little more quickly as she returned to the common room, and could hear the clouds break out into pouring rain beating on the castle roof. She would figure out what was in the Forest, she was sure, but Colin not wanting to tell her was somewhat more frightening. What could possibly scare someone who was already dead?


	7. Arya's Dream

**Hi everyone! Thanks so much for reading, please review! Enjoy! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 7

ARYA'S DREAM

 **WIZENGAMOT PROFILE #1**

 **BY ROSE AND LUCY WEASLEY**

Wizengamot Representative Patricia Thorpe is a representative of the Edinburough district. She has sat in the Wizengamot for 15 years and has taken part in several controversial decisions and appointments that have garnered much attention previously. However, there was never much true investigation into the funding of such representation. In this series we will attempt to shed more light on the inner workings of some of the corruption in the governing body of Wizarding Britain. Representative Thorpe has, throughout the course of her terms, received nearly 3,000 Galleons from the offices of Representatives to the International Confederation of Wizards Everett Davis and Daniel Clarke. A complete breakdown of such payments and motivations are listed below. This behavior certainly calls into question the legitimacy of our current governing body. Several more profiles will follow in the coming months. We would also like to remind the Edinburough district that Representative Thorpe is due for reelection in the upcoming midterm elections in April 2022.

YEAR: 2006-2020

PAYMENT: 100 Galleons biannually

EFFECT: Approving the appointment and reappointment of Representatives Davis and Clarke

YEAR: 2011

PAYMENT: 300 Galleons

EFFECT: Voting no on Azkaban reform appropriations bill

YEAR: 2012

PAYMENT: 200 Galleons

EFFECT: Approving reappropriation of representative districts in the liberal districts surrounding London

YEAR: 2013

PAYMENT: 400 Galleons

EFFECT: Endorsement of Percival Weasley for Prime Minister candidacy

YEAR: 2014

PAYMENT: 200 Galleons

EFFECT: Voting no on the appointment of Harry Potter as Head of the Auror Department

YEAR: 2016

PAYMENT: 300 Galleons

EFFECT: Voting no on the International Educational Standardization Initiative, including clauses involving teaching indigenous magical theory in all schools, improvements on Muggle Studies curriculum, and broadening History of Magic curriculum.

YEAR: 2018

PAYMENT: 200 Galleons

EFFECT: Approval of reappropriations bill involving increasing representative salaries by diverting funds from the Muggle Liaison Department

YEAR: 2020

PAYMENT: 350 Galleons

EFFECT: Authorization of the Ministerial Educational Taskforce

YEAR: 2021

PAYMENT: 200 Galleons

EFFECT: Support of movement authorizing police force against Progressive Union for Muggle-Wizard Equality protestors

Rose was wary the week that the first Wizengamot profile was published, but she didn't get in any trouble from the school and Prince was nowhere to be seen, so she began to relax after a few days. She and Lucy published another profile weekly and, by Halloween, they had nearly finished with the entire Upper Chamber of the Wizengamot. The Hufflepuff Quidditch team had won their first two games, and Gryffindor had beaten Slytherin in their only match so far, but James was concerned about Hufflepuff's new team, which meant that most of Rose's free time was taken up by Prefect duties, writing profiles, and more Quidditch practices than she had ever remembered. She would normally be fine with this schedule, but her amount of schoolwork was growing more and more, and she couldn't pretend that she wasn't distracted by the tension within her friends—albeit tension she was partially responsible for. She came close to falling asleep in Charms once at the end of October, and before she left for Hogsmeade for the Halloween trip she was pulled aside by Professor Longbottom. "Rose, I'd like to talk to you, do you have a minute?"

"Yes, what's this about?" Rose asked, confused, and he looked a little uncomfortable.

"Er, I'd just like to let you know privately about your marks on your last Herbology test. You've received an A."

Rose's eyes widened. "What? Can I—do you have it?" Professor Longbottom handed her the test and she looked over it frantically. He was right, she had gotten 72%. She had done fairly well on the multiple choice, but she had completely failed the essay. She looked at it, amazed. "How did I—I know that Fanged Geraniums are used for healing, not—defensive—I don't know what I was even trying to say, but—"

"It's all right, Rose, I know you know this, that's why I'm talking to you. I normally don't talk to anyone unless they've gotten a P, but I've never known you to even really get E's. Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm all right, it's fine," Rose said. Professor Longbottom looked concerned.

"Are you sure? I can talk to your Head of House if you're feeling depressed—"

"I'm okay, Professor, thanks, though," Rose said. "It's just one test."

Longbottom nodded. "Okay well, just make sure you review. It'll be on the OWL for sure, and Professor McGonagall thought you might be interested in Healing, so…"

"Right, thanks," Rose said, and hurried back into the crowd of students. When she reached the Entrance Hall, she felt a tug on her sleeve and looked down to find a very annoyed-looking Arya.

"Where is everyone going? They said I can't go," she said.

"Hogsmeade," Rose explained. "It's the village near the castle, you can only go if you're third year or above. Sorry, Arya." Arya looked outraged.

"What?! Well, what am I supposed to do all day?"

"There's plenty of other first years," Rose said, and Arya shook her head.

"I don't want to talk to them, they're awful. Can you stay with me?" Rose was confused.

"I've seen you talking to first years."

"Well, a bunch of them started saying I was weird and now they won't talk to me." Arya looked more than a little upset and Rose glanced at the crowd quickly moving out of the castle into the rainy grounds outside. She couldn't see Al, but she knew he had meant to meet her later. She looked back at Arya who looked back questioningly. "What? Are you meeting your boyfriend?"

"No," Rose said, "he has too much homework."

"Then who's waiting for you?" Arya mumbled, looking down, and Rose thought about what was waiting in Hogsmeade. Al would most likely sit with Scorpius, and she would end up arguing with him in front of everyone again—

"No one, come on. We can work on the Avifors Spell if you want."

"With what?" Arya asked skeptically. "I don't think Filch is going to appreciate us turning things into birds."

"We can see if the Transfiguration room is open," Rose offered, and Arya slowly started to smile. Rose led the way down the corridor on the second floor until they reached the long hall used for Transfiguration class and quickly found in the cupboards the small stones the first years had been using in class to practice. "Okay, so how far have you gotten?"

"I turned the rock into the shape of a bird," Arya muttered. "Willow Roth made fun of me."

"Well, what does Willow Roth know?" Rose said quietly as she set a stone on the desk nearest to them. "Just try it and I'll see how well you've done." Arya shrugged and pointed her wand at the stone.

" _Avifors!_ " she called out, and Rose saw that while she was doing the motion perfectly, the rock merely changed shape.

"Okay, so that's probably all your great aunt has been teaching right now, right?" Rose asked. Arya looked confused.

"There's more?"

"Yes. You have to really try to understand what you're doing, it helps a lot. Do you know about the Laws of Conjuration?" Arya shook her head, looking increasingly frustrated, and Rose changed tactics. "Okay, did you go to primary school?"

"Well, yeah, but why does that matter?"

"Because everything is made of atoms, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Transfiguration is just switching the atoms. The atoms of the rock get scrambled and replaced with the atoms that make up a bird. You're just the one that has to imagine that happening and do the spell. Right now you're probably imagining a bird appearing, but you're not thinking about the rock disappearing."

"Okay, I think I got it."

"Try again, then." Rose sat back as Arya tried the spell again and the third time she did so, with a blast of electric blue light, the rock was transfigured into a little white bird that flew up into the rafters. "Great job!"

Arya grinned and said, "So that's it, you just have to imagine what you're doing?"

"For basic stuff, yeah. There's a lot of laws and theories that you'll start learning next year or third year, but for now, that's all."

"Thanks, Rose," Arya said. "Can we go up to the library? I want to see if I can find books about this stuff."

"Okay, sure," Rose said, and Arya hurried out of the room. Rose followed her up to the library and wandered around as she looked intently through the Transfiguration section. She found Aidan at one of the tables nearby and sat down across from him. "Hi," she said, and he looked up, smiling.

"Hi! I thought you were going to Hogsmeade!"

"So did I, but the girl I've been tutoring guilted me into staying," she said, laughing. "She's looking through theoretical Transfiguration books right now."

"Nice," he said. "She must be fairly advanced, then."

"She definitely is," Rose said, "well, she's McGonagall's family, so…"

"True." Aidan smiled and said, "Er, so after the feast, I was thinking we could go for a walk or something… I've barely seen you lately.""I know, I'm sorry," she said, "I've been so busy, I'm hardly keeping up in my classes." She felt a little guilty when she realized she hadn't even noticed she hadn't been seeing Aidan much.

"I doubt that," he said, rolling his eyes. She shifted uncomfortably and decided not to tell him about her Herbology grade. "Anyway—"

"Rose, is this what you were talking about?" Arya asked, running up to their table, and showed her a book called _The Science of Magical Displacement._

"I would think so, yeah," Rose said. "Er, Arya, this is Aidan."

Arya nodded and smiled. "Oh, yeah, your boyfriend. Hi."

"Hi, Arya," Aidan said. "I've seen you at the Army meetings, haven't I?"

"Yeah, you're the secretary, right?"

"Er, yeah, and Treasurer, but that's more in official capacity than any real—"

"I guessed." She paused for a minute and looked a little nervous suddenly. "Oh, sorry, were you guys, like, in the middle of something?"

"Nothing but a sentence," Aidan said quietly and Rose shook her head.

"No, you're okay," she said, smiling pointedly at Aidan. "If you want to look through that book, I can help you find what you're looking for."

"Sure," Arya said, and immersed herself in the book.

Soon after, one of the teenage ghosts in Ravenclaw robes approached them and said, "Hey, Aidan."

"Oh, hi, Osric!" Aidan said cheerfully, and said, "This is Rose and Arya."

"Osric Campbell," he said. "Er, I'd shake your hand, but…"

"That's okay," Rose said, smiling. "You're a friend of Aidan's?"

"He sleeps in my old bed, so we've talked, yes," Osric said. "Er, I was a sixth year Ravenclaw when…" he trailed off and changed the subject quickly. "I expect I'll see you at the feast, then—the ghosts are having a party in the dungeons later, but the other younger ones and I might avoid it. It's a little…medieval, the way they do things." He shrugged. "So maybe I'll find you again, Aidan?"

"Well, Rose and I were going to—" Aidan started to say and Osric laughed.

"Okay, okay, never mind. I won't third wheel from the dead, I did it enough in life. I'll see you in the dormitories, then." Rose noticed as Osric started to leave that Arya was staring at him, her hands shaking.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked her, and Arya looked at her with wide eyes.

"Er… I don't think so… I… can you take me to Great Aunt Minerva…?" Arya was still shaking, and she was beginning to breathe harder, and Rose nodded quickly. They stood up and Aidan followed them as they hurried out of the library and across the corridor to the entrance to the headmistress's office. The gargoyle saw Arya and let them up without questions. Rose hurried ahead of Aidan, who was helping Arya and trying to calm her down, to knock loudly on the door.

"Professor? It's Arya," Rose called out, and McGonagall opened the door a moment later.

"Yes? What's wrong, Miss Weasley?" McGonagall said.

"Er, she was sitting with Aidan and I and a ghost and she started—" Rose began to explain, but Aidan and Arya reached the top of the staircase then and McGonagall hurried them all inside.

"Get a chair, Miss Weasley," she said, and Rose brought over one of the chairs near the headmistress's desk and Arya sat down slowly. "What's wrong, dear?"

"Er…I— I hadn't seen him before and…"

"Who?" McGonagall asked.

"Osric Campbell, one of the Ravenclaw ghosts," Aidan said quickly and Arya started talking again.

"He was in a nightmare I had… well, a lot of the ghosts were but he was… he was dead and…"

"He's a ghost," Rose said quietly, and Arya shook her head.

"I know, the ghosts were dying."

"What?" Aidan asked.

"It was on Halloween, or one of them was, I think it'll be tonight. I— I don't know why, but I think it's real," Arya said. McGonagall stood up and turned to Rose and Aidan.

"Miss Weasley, please find Professor Rudomin and bring him here. Mr. Tanner, I think… I think it would be best if Professor Trelawney would also come to my office. Quickly, please." Rose hurried out of the office, Aidan behind her. Rose ignored the questioning glances of passing younger students as she raced down to the Defense classroom, where she found Professor Rudomin marking tests at his desk.

"Professor?" she said, and he looked up, immediately noticing her expression. He stood up quickly and grabbed his wand.

"What's going on, Rose?"

"Professor McGonagall wants you to come to her office right now. It's urgent."

"Well, let's go, then." Rudomin walked briskly around the desk and out of the door, where Rose struggled to keep stride with him as he was nearly running. "What's this about?"

"It's Arya Collins, her niece, she was saying—well, she wasn't making much sense. She was talking about a dream she had, about the ghosts and Halloween night—Professor McGonagall seemed to be pretty concerned."

"Brilliant, did she say when tonight?" Rudomin asked quickly as they came closer to the entrance to the office.

"Er, no, just tonight… why? How are we sure it's real?" Rose asked.

Rudomin shook his head. "I suppose we aren't completely sure, but… Arya is probably a Seer, Rose, so if she believes her dream is real, it most likely is."


	8. Halloween Night

**Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while, but this one's a little long if it helps. I hope you like the chapter! Please review, and thanks so much! -Kelly :)**

CHAPTER 8

HALLOWEEN NIGHT

Rose and Aidan stood in the back of the office as the professors discussed quietly together what was going to be done after Professor Trelawney had declared that it certainly had been a vision. Rose wasn't entirely sure why they were trusting Professor Trelawney's opinion in this situation, but since they had already been fairly sure she supposed she could understand. Arya was still sitting in the chair nervously, and wouldn't talk to anyone. She was staring at the floor, clearly frightened, and Rose could hear parts of their discussion when they would get more expressive.

"We can't call the rest of the school back now, there isn't any way," McGonagall said, and Rudomin nodded.

"Maybe if we sent an owl to the Owl Post there they could send the students back…?"

"Possibly, but I'm not sure that will be necessary." McGonagall turned to Arya and asked, "It was dark in your vision, wasn't it, Arya?" Arya nodded hesitantly and McGonagall said, "If nothing will happen until nightfall, I believe it will be safe for the students not to return until 6:00 as scheduled."

"Are we going to tell the students?" Rudomin asked.

"I don't think that would be wise, other than the Prefects. They aren't in any danger that we know of. I suggest that during the feast, the faculty guards the Great Hall and throughout the night we keep a close watch. We must inform the ghosts to be cautious, however. Perhaps their celebration should be postponed."

"I'll talk to Sir Nicholas, he'll pass it on to the others," Rudomin said.

"Perhaps you should talk to Mr. Creevey and Miss Brown as well, I believe the student ghosts keep themselves relatively separate." Rudomin nodded and started to leave. "Victor, inform the other Heads of Houses as well." He nodded again and left the office. "Sybil, I trust you to gather the rest of the faculty for a staff meeting. I will be in the staff room in half an hour, I expect all professors and Mr. Filch to be present as well."

"Of course, Minerva. And have you thought more of my request to—"

"We can discuss the possibility another time, Sybil, but yes, I might be open to discussion." Professor Trelawney hurried out of the office and McGonagall seemed to notice them again for the first time in a while. "I apologize for all of this," she said. "Miss Weasley, I would appreciate it if you would take Miss Collins to the hospital wing, and Mr. Tanner, if you could find Mr. Potter or Miss Matthews as soon as possible to call a Prefect meeting directly before the feast. I will be attending." Aidan looked surprised but nodded and McGonagall said, "Thank you. And you are not to tell any students other than Prefects about the situation, understood?" They nodded and left the office quickly.

"I'll find Ava, meet us at the Prefect commons around 6:00, okay?" Aidan said when they had reached the bottom of the staircase. Rose nodded and he hesitated a little before he kissed her and left quickly.

Rose turned herself and Arya towards the hospital wing and as they walked, Arya said faintly, "Are you guys in love or not?"

"What?" Rose asked, completely taken off guard. "Er… we're just… I don't know."

"That kiss looked pretty awkward."

"It wasn't—aren't you supposed to be nearly catatonic?" Rose muttered and Arya rolled her eyes.

"I'm trying to distract myself," she mumbled, and they reached the hospital wing fairly quickly. "Sorry about this," she said quietly as Rose waited for Ms. Abbott to open the door to the wing. "At least I didn't do this in front of Willow."

"It's okay, Arya, some pretty weird stuff has happened to me, too," Rose said, and Ms. Abbott opened the door and brought Arya to a bed quickly. She waved halfheartedly before a curtain was pulled around her bed and Rose walked down to the Great Hall to wait for the rest of the school. She realized she finally had free time and studied as much as she could before she started to hear students pouring in through the castle doors. She jumped up and checked the time; she had ten minutes till she was supposed to meet Aidan. Rose wove her way through the crowd until she found Al and Scorpius. Al looked a little mad until she ran up to him and said, "Emergency Prefect meeting. Now."

"What?" he asked. "And where were you today?"

"You'll find out, I'm sorry, I can't tell you here. Come on." Al glanced at Scorpius and shrugged apologetically.

"Are you seriously not going to tell me what's going on?" Scorpius asked.

"Prefects only," Rose said shortly.

"I'll tell you later," Al said, and Rose pulled him through the crowd.

"No he won't!" she called behind them, and they ran up to the Prefect commons to find Ava coming in with Aidan and a few other prefects. James was already inside, sitting with Alice and the other Gryffindor prefects, and Rose and Al went to sit in the sofa across from him.

"Rosie, where'd you disappear to?"

"Long story. McGonagall will explain."

"McGonagall? What the hell is going on?" James asked, suddenly a lot more concerned. Ava walked over and pulled him up from the sofa.

"Please actually act like Head Boy," she muttered, and he grinned and shrugged. "This isn't funny, what if it's an attack?"

"It's not on us, it's the ghosts—" Rose began to explain, but the room quieted when McGonagall walked in. After she explained what had happened that afternoon, she said, "The faculty and I trust all of you to be responsible and cautious tonight, and to help us protect the school and your fellow students. You are all to remain alert in your respective common rooms from nightfall at 8:00 tonight until your Heads of Houses inform you that the danger is passed. Thank you."

"Professor, what about the ghosts?" Ava asked.

"Please inform any ghosts you may see that I highly recommend they remain inside their Houses, and that unaffiliated ghosts are welcome to seek refuge in any House they choose. Other questions?" The room was quiet, and she continued. "None of you are to inform the student body of what is happening unless the faculty has already done so. We are hoping that the students will never have to be concerned with this matter." The Prefects dispersed and Rose walked down to the feast with Al, already growing nervous about the night to come. When they entered the Hall the feast had already begun and they hurried to sit next to Hugo, Min, and Roxanne. Scorpius, Rose noticed, was sitting farther along down the table with Emma, and didn't seem to show any signs of moving down to sit with them, which Rose was perfectly fine with. The last thing she needed tonight was to be thinking about Scorpius. As the feast progressed, however, she couldn't seem to avoid watching him from down the table. She noticed with alarm that she saw him smile and felt the same strange feeling she had felt last year whenever she saw him. That had to have been cancelled out by what he did, hadn't it? She felt guilty when she thought about Aidan as well, and there was a small part of her that knew that even though she may have felt that way about him occasionally, she didn't feel the same way he did. She had no idea what to do.

"Rose?" Al said loudly, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Could you help with that Charms assignment tonight? I'm really screwed if I can't get it done by Monday…"

"Well, sure, I mean, Aidan wants to go for a walk but I'll be up by 8:00 obviously."

Al raised an eyebrow. "A walk?"

"What?"

"Do I have to kill him?"

"What?" Rose repeated, starting to get indignant.

Al rolled his eyes. "Merlin, Rose, I'm only joking."

"Nothing's going to happen, we're literally going for a walk."

"Sure," he said quietly, and Min chuckled. Rose glared at her and she stopped but still looked a little too pleased. Rose started to feel sick. Is that really what Aidan meant by— but the feast was over and she didn't have any more time to think. Aidan was waiting by the door to the Entrance Hall and she tried not to show that she was incredibly nervous.

"Hey," he said. "Let's go up one of the towers, it'll be quieter there."

"Okay," she said quickly, and followed him about halfway up the Astronomy Tower, where true enough, there were no students at all. Aidan stopped after a while and sat down on a bench along a corridor, and Rose hesitantly sat down next to him.

"We aren't supposed to be getting people back to the dorms, are we?" he checked, and she shook her head.

"They've got till eight, it's only 7:30," she said, and he smiled.

"Good, it's nice to finally have some time alone," he said, and she nodded quickly. She was starting to think Al was right. Aidan wasn't exactly walking. "I've missed you lately, we've hardly talked."

"I know," Rose said. "I didn't exactly predict this whole Arya situation."

"Funny that," he said. "We always get interrupted somehow. I suppose that's what I get for dating a Weasley. You're all always in trouble."

"Is that… bad?" Rose asked and he laughed.

"Not at all. You know how much I care about you."

"…Yeah," Rose said, not wanting to mention that was exactly what she was worried about.

"Kiss me," he said suddenly, and Rose felt like she was going to be sick. She kissed him anyway, though, and it only took a few seconds for Aidan to pull her closer and before she knew what she was doing, she pushed him away.

"Aidan, I—I'm not sure I—"

"You what?" Aidan asked, looking more than a little embarrassed. Rose took a deep breath.

"I don't know if this is… working."

Aidan hesitated before saying, "…Okay. Yeah, okay."

"Okay?" Rose asked.

"It's okay, Rose, I understand. I knew you didn't really fancy me, but I hoped that since he was gone, I could—"

"What?" Rose asked, confused now.

"I can't compete with Scorpius Malfoy," Aidan said. "It's fine. I knew anyway. We can stay friends."

"It's not about Scorpius! Aidan, I'm not… it's not that I don't care about you, because I… I do, but—"

"As a friend," Aidan said. "And that's fine. I'll be fine." There was a very awkward silence for a few seconds before he said, "We should… get back to our Houses. It'll be nearly eight when we get there."

"…Are you sure you're okay?" Rose asked quietly. Aidan nodded and forced a smile, and the whole situation was too awkward.

"Good night," Rose said. "I'm… I'm sorry." She dashed out of the corridor and entered the stairwell. She was so deep in her own thoughts that she didn't hear or see the couple at the bottom of the stairs until she was eye level with them, and froze as she realized who it was. Scorpius and Emma were pressed together against the window on the other side of the stairwell, snogging eagerly, and Rose stared in complete disbelief until Emma noticed and pulled away, eyes wide.

"Rose!" she squeaked. "Er, I, um…"

"What's the matter with you, Weasley? You look pissed," Scorpius said, straightening his robes and starting to fix his hair.

Rose glared at him and was speechless for a second before she managed to say, "Early curfew's in twenty minutes." She stomped down the rest of the stairs and reached Gryffindor tower ten minutes early. She had no idea what was happening in her life anymore; everything had made sense this morning, what had happened? She sat down next to Al in a huff and he looked at her, confused.

"Are you okay, Rose?" he asked. "What happened with Aidan?"

"It… wasn't good," Rose muttered, and James looked at her from the opposite sofa, concerned.

"What'd he do? I'll kill him if you'd like. I could take the little prick."

"No, it's not—I broke up with him, it's fine."

"Oh." James and Al were quiet for a minute before James said, "Well, if you broke up with him, you should be happy, right?"

"I probably will be eventually, I just need a minute." Rose hesitated before adding, "And Scorpius is snogging Emma in the Astronomy Tower, by the way."

James's eyes seemed to bug out of his head. "Oh, now that's someone I'll kill." Rose shrugged and Al looked a little concerned as Scorpius and Emma burst through the portrait hole, giggling in a way that made Rose want to die. "Malfoy! What the hell are you thinking?"

Scorpius stopped in front of the portrait hole and raised an eyebrow. "What, James?"

"James, don't—" Emma said, but he cut her off.

"You know bloody well what!"

Scorpius remained calm in the way Rose had learned to be wary of and said quietly, "Emma, could you excuse us for a moment?"

"Don't kill each other," Emma sighed, and quickly went to sit down with Roxanne across the room.

"I'm not sure why this is any of your business, Potter," he said, and James rolled his eyes.

"Like hell it isn't. She's a fourth year, she's 14 years old—"

"Fifteen, actually, and it's kind of a mutual decision, it's not like she didn't want to—"

"Merlin, Malfoy, you've got your pick of girls here, just stay away from my cousins!"

"It wasn't the first time, you arse," Scorpius growled, and James looked affronted. Rose felt her face flush and tried as hard as she could not to think about the incident in third year.

"Excuse me?" James asked and Scorpius stepped back a little.

"Nothing," Scorpius muttered, and turned around to stomp up the boys' stairs. Rose internally sighed in relief. The common room had gone uncharacteristically silent.

"What?" James asked, and the rest of the students looked away quickly and chatter resumed. James stalked back to their seats and looked furious. "Bloody git. I'm glad you finally saw sense, Rosie."

"Yeah," Rose said quietly.

"What the hell did he mean, it wasn't the first time?" James asked.

"Well, don't look at me," Min said, and he looked questioningly at the two of them.

"Of course not, don't be ridiculous," Rose said quickly, and Al stared back at his brother.

"What the hell are you looking at me for?"

"Well, you never know," James said, shrugging. "Can we just forget this ever happened?"

"Please," Rose said.

"You know you're on duty as Head Boy," Alice said quietly. "Might want to act like it."

James blushed a little, something Rose didn't think she'd ever seen, and said, "Er, yeah, okay." He stood up and walked into the center of the room. "All right, everyone, early curfew's just a precaution, but we really can't tell you why. Sorry." There were some general groans about the room and James waited for a second. "Okay, so it doesn't matter when you go up to bed or anything, just stay in the House. Got it? Great, thanks." He walked back to where they were sitting and said, "Hey, Min, you kinda have to leave, sorry."

Min rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. I'll make sure you didn't traumatize Emma."

She walked across the room and James added, "We need to account for the ghosts, right?"

"Well, we're only expecting Colin and Sir Nicholas," Hector said, "and Nick's playing chess with a second year in the corner."

"Where's Colin?" Rose asked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen him," Gemma said, looking a little concerned. After a minute or so of quiet, Colin came in through the far wall and over to them.

"Hey, I'm here, I just was checking on a few of the others. Osric's pretty shaken up. He keeps saying he wants to find out what's going on. We reckon he should just stay inside, but he won't listen…"

"Brilliant," James said, rolling his eyes. "Thanks, Colin."

"Sure," he said. Rose and the other prefects waited as calmly as possible until around 11:00, Rose helping Al with his Charms essay, and trying not to think too much about Aidan or Scorpius. Did Aidan really think she was breaking up with him because of Scorpius? Was she? She honestly didn't know.

A little after 11:00, Professor Rudomin came to the dorms and said, "James, can we talk outside?"

James looked at them, a little anxious, and said, "Sure," before getting up and following the professor outside.

James and Rudomin didn't return until nearly 11:30, and most of the other students had gone to bed already when they returned and Rudomin said, "We're fairly certain the danger's passed. It's all right for you to go to bed now. Thanks so much for your help."

Rudomin left quickly and Al immediately asked James, "What happened?"

"Osric's… well, he's not dead, I… I don't know how to put it. It's like he's frozen. He's sort of in a coma but he's a ghost so…"

"Do they know what did it?" Rose asked. James shook his head.

"Well, how do they know it's passed?" Al asked.

"Probably because Arya only saw him on Halloween," Rose pointed out, and James nodded.

"Yeah. I suppose. We might as well go to bed."

"I don't know if I can sleep. What the hell can kill ghosts?"

"If you don't mind my asking," Nearly Headless Nick said from across the room, "what's happened?"

"Osric Campbell is in the hospital wing, he's sort of frozen… they aren't sure what's happened," James said. Nick suddenly looked very grim. "What is it? Do you know what's happening?"

"I have a theory," Nick said. "I hope I'm wrong. Perhaps Mr. Creevey can explain… we were both afflicted by—"

"By what?" Colin asked.

Nick turned to him and said, "I believe Mr. Campbell has been Petrified." Colin seemed as if he would have gone white had he been alive and James was getting impatient.

"What is it?"

"It's bad, mate," Colin said grimly. "If we're right… it sounds like the Chamber of Secrets."

"That's rubbish, my dad killed that thing, didn't he?" Al asked nervously.

"Well… we think so, but… all we're saying is that's what it sounds like," Colin said. The ghosts went off through the wall and the prefects went up to bed. Rose attempted to fall asleep but laid on her bed for what felt like hours, thinking about what had happened. If the Chamber of Secrets was open, no one was safe. That was certain.


	9. The Late Night Visitor

**Hi everyone! Thanks for waiting and I really hope you like the chapter! Please review! Thanks again! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 9

THE LATE NIGHT VISITOR

Weeks after the Halloween incident, rumours about the Chamber had reached a level so great that Professor McGonagall officially said that no faculty member believes the Chamber of Secrets is the cause of Osric's condition, and that they should all stop assuming something like that happens every time something goes wrong, though Rose doubted Hogwarts would ever take that advice. She had recently taken to spending more time in the library, if only to avoid Scorpius and Emma, who seemed to have an uncanny ability to be in every stairwell Rose wanted to use. The library was not, however, a good place to avoid Aidan, and if Rose had to endure another awkward moment of studying with him at the next table she thought she might die. Rose was trying to research what was happening to the ghosts, but she didn't exactly know where to start. She had been reading books on spirits in general during her free time. It wasn't as if she had much that was better to do; Al had begun shifting towards spending more time with Scorpius and less time with her. Rose told herself she didn't care, but that wasn't entirely true. She had other friends, true, but she didn't exactly want to talk to Emma either and Min and Roxanne didn't see much of a problem with the whole Scorpius situation. She found herself talking much more to James than anyone else, who was becoming almost as annoying as Tom had been when it came to Quidditch. Toward the end of November, it was announced that there would be a dance to celebrate the end of the fall term the night before the Christmas break began, and Rose felt terrible about the whole thing. She knew it would be awkward to see Aidan there and there wouldn't be any avoiding going alone this time. The drama was abounding about who had asked whom and Rose was so sick of it that she had gone up to the library immediately after dinner one night. It wasn't long before James came running in with his school bag and slammed it down onto the table. Rose looked at him in alarm.

"Are you okay?"

"We're playing Hufflepuff this weekend, I needed to find you," James said, pulling out a roll of parchment from his bag. Rose blinked.

"I didn't even know you know where the library was."

James rolled his eyes and said, "I got 6 Owls, Rosie, and honestly, who cares about Astronomy? Anyway, you've got to help me plan this out. A few of the players are in your year, do you know anything about Dominic Allan and Adam Finch-Fletchley?"

"Er, not really, I mean I have Muggle Studies with Adam and Runes with Dominic but we don't really talk," Rose shrugged. James sighed.

"Well, they're two of the best Chasers Hufflepuff's had in years. Them and the new recruit, some third year I'd never even heard of. Grayson Wallace? Hannah won't shut up about them, it's quite annoying." Rose rolled her eyes, thinking it couldn't possibly be too annoying considering the rumours she'd been hearing about him and the Hufflepuff captain. "Anyway, you should try to get to know them, maybe they'll let something slip."

"I don't know, James, I don't really want to spy on anyone, and I'm already pretty busy," she complained, and James looked at the book in front of her.

"What are you reading, anyway? You can't possibly have this much homework this early on." He took the book and read off the cover. " _Spirits of Scotland_. What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to figure out what attacked Osric," Rose said. "I believe McGonagall, it can't be the Chamber."

"Well, I agree with you, but are you really going to find anything in some outdated book that can't possibly even mention the Battle of Hogwarts ghosts?"

"I don't know where else to start, so…" Rose sighed. "I'm not making very much progress. Naturally, things that can kill people who are already dead aren't exactly common knowledge."

"D'you think you could get Neville to give you a Restricted section pass?" James asked.

"I don't know. Maybe. But I'm not sure I want any faculty to know I'm still looking into this. They seemed pretty determined to keep it away from the students."

"Yeah. I don't know." After a moment or so, James asked, "So you're sure you've never heard either of them talking about strategy?" The rest of the conversation progressed in this way and Rose did her best to field his questions without encouraging him to continue. Finally, she was able to say, "It's 7:30, I have to be there for study hall."

"Oh, damn, me too," James muttered. "It's not like anyone wants help from me."

"You just said you had 6 OWLs," Rose reminded him and he rolled his eyes.

"I test well. Homework doesn't work with me."

"Sure." Arya was waiting for Rose in the Great Hall when they arrived and they spent most of study hall practicing Switching Spells and talking about the Army.

The next morning, Rose walked into Muggle Studies and found the blackboard had written on it, FREE DISCUSSION. She sat down and Al entered a few moments later, confused. "What's going on?" Rose shrugged and Professor Creevey entered not long after that.

"Settle down everyone!" she called out, and most of the students quickly directed their attention to her, as curious as Rose was. "The headmistress and I agree that it is an important part of a class such as this to be able to share and discuss your own ideas with your peers. So in the spirit of this, we'll be having a free discussion class for you all to do just that. Spread out, I don't want anyone talking to their best friend. Talk to someone different." Rose looked at Al, a little put out, and became even more annoyed when she saw him making a similar face at Scorpius. Since when were they best friends? "All right. I'm not lecturing today. Discuss what we've talked about. Don't start talking about Quidditch or anything." She smiled and sat down at her desk, taking out a book. Rose was uncomfortable as she looked around the room, realizing how few of the other students she actually knew. It wasn't a large class by any means, about a dozen students, and most of the students had paired off when a tall Hufflepuff boy approached her and she smiled awkwardly.

"Er, hi," she said, and he smiled.

"Rose Weasley," he said, "it's a pleasure. Dominic Allan."

"I know," she lied, and gestured for him to sit in the desk in front of her. He sat backwards on the chair to face her and leaned over the back to rest his arms on her desk. "So, we're supposed to talk about history of Muggle relations with wizards, I suppose, based on this week's lessons."

"Right," he said. "I'm not going to be much help, I don't think. Haven't really paid much attention, to be honest."

"Well, um, the general idea was that Muggles were pretty much perfectly fine interacting with wizards until religious 'reawakenings' started up in Europe, which basically made everything go pretty badly for a while. That's where the Statute of Secrecy eventually came from—"

"You know all about that," Dominic interjected.

"Er, yes," Rose said nervously. Dominic grinned and Rose felt herself blush. _What the hell?_ she thought. She couldn't deny that he was handsome, that much was true. "Um, but I don't know, what do you think about that?"

"I think if it worked before I don't see why it couldn't again," Dominic said. "Especially with the decline of religious fanatics in the last century or so."

"Yes, that's what I think," Rose said. "I mean, you probably know that."

"Yeah," he said. "I've read your articles this whole time. They're brilliant, seriously."

"Thank you," Rose said, smiling a little, and Dominic shrugged.

"My parents are pretty neutral in this whole thing. My dad works for the Ministry, but he's not really… super loyal, I don't know. And my mum's an artist. She's a witch but still, not really that involved in the whole world of politics."

"Right," Rose said.

"Your mum definitely is, though, I'm sure," he said. "What does she think?"

"She supports the Union," Rose said. "But not too strongly. A big part of her job is staying neutral, so…"

"Yep. Sorry if this is weird. I know all about you," Dominic laughed. "You're kind of famous in your own right by now. And being their daughter probably adds to that."

"I'm sort of used to it, my baby picture was in Witch Weekly," Rose said, and realized approximately one second later that that was an odd thing to say to a stranger. Dominic laughed, though.

"I guess. You're like a real person though. It's nice. Sometimes people like that have got big heads and are all snobby. Aidan's a lucky guy."

Rose blushed a little and said, "Oh, er, we broke up."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Dominic said quickly, and Rose shook her head.

"It's fine, it was a month ago. Don't worry about it. But anyway, thanks," Rose said. "I can think of a couple of my cousins where that isn't true." She knew Dominic thought of James when she said that, and even though she knew he really was probably one of the most insecure, she decided to let him keep his image and moved on. "Anyway, anything else you want to talk about?"

Dominic hesitated a little before he asked, "You're playing in the match this Saturday, aren't you?"

"I sort of meant about Muggle Studies," Rose said, though she was smiling.

"Well, you did say anything," Dominic said, smiling again. "Can I take you to the party when Hufflepuff wins?"

"Oh, confident much?" Rose said, raising an eyebrow, her stomach doing somersaults. "Maybe. I don't know yet. I might be a sore loser."

"That doesn't seem like you," he said. "But that's okay. How about you just let me take you to the Christmas dance and we'll call it even."

Rose felt herself blush again and said, "…Okay."

"Brilliant," Dominic said, then looked around a little. "I think most people are moving on to a different partner. As much as I'd like to keep talking, I don't want to monopolize your time. I'll see you on Saturday."

"Okay, sure," Rose said, smiling, and when Dominic walked away, she stayed seated, grinning. Her grin faded quickly when Scorpius sat down in his place. "Malfoy. We're supposed to find strangers."

"You treat me like one," Scorpius said, shrugging, and leaned back in the chair, looking far too comfortable for Rose's liking. "You didn't seem like strangers with Allan over there."

"He's my date to the Christmas dance," Rose said quickly and Scorpius raised an eyebrow.

"Wow."

"What?" Rose asked indignantly.

"Nothing, just thought you didn't go for guys like that."

"What do you mean?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "He's a dumb jock, Weasley, and he only wants—"

"He's not dumb."

"Whatever. Girls go with him for about a week. He gets what he wants and moves on."

"And I'm sure you're going at Emma in every corridor in the school because of her beautiful personality," Rose said.

"At least my date can hold a conversation," he replied.

"How would you know? I don't see you talking," she shot back, and he rolled his eyes.

"Jealousy isn't becoming."

"You think I'm bloody jealous of her?"

"You wouldn't care so much if you weren't," he said, grinning, and she kicked the legs of the chair that was already leaning back quite precariously so that Scorpius had to do a quick spell to keep from falling backwards to the floor. His smile was gone.

"Do you want to talk about Muggle Studies or do you want to find another partner?" Rose asked with gritted teeth, and he stood up and stalked away. Rose, fuming, moved on to a different table and talked to a girl from Ravenclaw until the class was finally over. She came into the common room that night and saw the books from the previous night in her trunk. She rifled through them until she reached one towards the bottom that she had meant to read. Instead, as she picked up she caught sight of the cover of a book she had brought from home, her new copy of Hogwarts, a History: Revised Edition. She opened it, realizing that she may be able to find something more specific to Hogwarts within its pages, and flipped to the table of contents where she found a section titled Creatures and Spirits of Hogwarts Castle. The storm outside continued, only becoming worse as she read through the spirits section of the book without finding much other than the basilisk involving ghosts having been attacked. It was when she flipped back to the index of Creatures that lightning struck worryingly close to their window and she nearly dropped the book in surprise.

"Nasty out there, isn't it?" Min commented from her bed. "I reckon it's hardly stopped raining since September. Odd, isn't it?"

Alana shrugged and said, "Weather's weird here."

"Not this weird." Min shrugged. "I'm going to get ready to go to bed. Need the shower, Rose?"

"I already went, you go," Rose said, and Min went into the bathroom off their room as Rose changed into her pajamas. The last two of the girls in their room entered soon after and as the lights slowly went out, Rose settled down to sleep, leaving the book open on the night table. She closed her curtains and soon fell asleep.

Later, in the dead of night, Rose was startled awake, staring at the ceiling, and discovered she couldn't move a muscle apart from her eyes. She felt an ominous feeling from the foot of the bed and glanced down to see the outline of a dark, shadowy figure sitting at the bottom of the bed. Rose tried as hard as she could to sit up, scream, reach for her wand, anything, but she couldn't move at all. She began to panic and it felt like years before she finally jerked into action, turning the lamp on and fumbling for her wand. She looked at the end of the bed again but saw nothing. She looked around frantically, confused, and Alana's curtains flew open after a few seconds. "Rose, are you okay?"

"I… I'm okay, I just… I guess I had a nightmare," she said, trying to breathe normally, and Alana looked sympathetic.

"Er… okay. Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah, go back to sleep, it's fine."

"Okay…" Alana closed her curtains again and Rose set her wand down shakily. She went to turn the lamp off and froze again when she saw Hogwarts, a History: Revised Edition was closed on the night table. Along the front cover a long scratch that definitely had not been there earlier ran down through the title down to the edge of the book. Rose quickly shut the light off and closed her curtains, suddenly very sure that it hadn't been a dream. She struggled to fall asleep again for the rest of the night, but she couldn't stop thinking about what could have been there at the end of her bed. Whatever it was, she sensed it didn't like her looking in the book very much.


	10. The Night of the Dance

**Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long, I've been really busy lately. To make it up to you guys, I'm posting two chapters tonight, so here's the first one. Hope you enjoy and please review!** **-Kelly :)**

CHAPTER 10

THE NIGHT OF THE DANCE

Rose temporarily stopped her research on the ghosts, mostly because of the incident that night, and the next few weeks flew by quickly in a blur of studying for midterm exams and Quidditch and dodging questions from Al about Dominic, who she was more than happy to spend as much time with as possible, if only to annoy Scorpius. She felt a little bad, but then, they weren't really together anyway, it was just for the dance. She hoped.

The dance arrived quicker than Rose had expected, and their parents had sent sets of dress robes to the boys that were honestly quite awful the week before. There had been a Hogsmeade trip that week, and Al and James came back with Muggle formal suits. Rose was a little worried that they'd be in trouble, but she noticed that the majority of the boys in her House had similar ideas and decided to let it go; they couldn't all possibly get in trouble. The night of the dance, Rose was wearing a borrowed dress from Min, which was a dark shade of green and seemed a little lower cut than Rose would have ever bought herself, but it wasn't unmanageable. Emma insisted on taming her hair, and Rose came down to the common room a little after seven to find her and saw Hugo sprawled out on one of the couches, homework littered around him. He looked up as she entered and said, "You look different. It's weird."

"Er, I'm going to take that as a compliment," Rose said, shrugging, and peered over his shoulder. "Potions?"

"It's going to kill me, Rose. I'm going to die," he said very seriously. She rolled her eyes.

"You'll be fine. You'll be ahead of anyone in your grade who got asked, anyway."

"I want to go!" Hugo exclaimed. "It's not fair, we get to go to Hogsmeade, why can't we go to the dance?"

"Sorry, Hugo, fourth years and up," she said. "You wouldn't want to go with anyone anyway."

"Well, yeah, ew. But Al's going stag, so is Blake Collier, it's not unheard of," he said.

"Well, yes, but Al's awkward and Blake's asexual," Rose said. Hugo just shrugged. "I've got to find Emma."

"Commons bathroom," he said, pointing to the opposite end of the room, and Rose hurried into the girls' room.

She sat awkwardly as Emma whirled around her with a curling iron until Emma finally said, "You know, I really didn't think you would care about Scorpius and I."

Rose sighed and said, "I don't, really, it was just… a bit of a shock. It's not like he's my ex or anything, you can date whoever you want."

"He was your friend, I should've told you," she said. "…Anyway, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Emma, I'm not mad at you," she assured her. _I'm mad at him. I don't know why, but I am._

"Okay. This is a really good color for you."

"Oh, er, thanks. You look great, too."

"I hope I don't clash with him. He wouldn't talk about it, he didn't think it mattered."

"He'll be in some 18th century traditional thing, I'm sure." Emma laughed and kept working on Rose's hair until there was a knock on the bathroom door. Min came in after a second.

"Er, Dominic's outside the portrait hole with some Hufflepuffs."

"I'll be out in a minute!" Rose said quickly, and Emma finished up the last curl as she stood up and ran to the mirror. "I look okay, right?"

"You look great, have fun," Emma said, and Rose ran out of the bathroom and through the common room to the portrait hole. Dominic was standing outside, talking to Adam Finch-Fletchley and a girl Rose didn't recognize, and smiled when he saw her.

"Hi, Rose! Er, this is Adam and June."

"We have Runes together," Adam said. "Hi."

"Hi, er, if you all are ready to go, I'm ready," Rose said, and Al poked his head out of the portrait hole curiously.

"Wait, you're going with them?" he asked, looking confused.

"Yes, I'm going with Dominic, you didn't know?"

"I sort of assumed you were just coming with us," Al said, shrugging, and Rose felt herself get embarrassed.

"You assumed no one had asked me?"

"Um…" Al sensed danger and backed away. "I'll see you there, then." He disappeared and Rose turned to the Hufflepuffs, smiling.

"Okay, let's go." As they walked, Dominic and Rose walked a few paces away from the other two.

"You look brilliant, by the way," he said, and Rose smiled. "Your cousin won't be too upset you went with us, will he?"

"Oh, no, he's fine," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "He's going stag and tagging along with Emma Dursley and Scorpius Malfoy."

"Right, well, still I don't really want to upset him. If his brother's any indication."

"Oh, James is full of it, don't worry. And there's nothing Al hates more than conflict."

"I'm glad to hear that, I got a goal past James last week and I thought he was going to kill me." Rose laughed again and they soon reached the ground floor. As they entered the Great Hall, Rose was pleased to see the decorations had been put up according to the plans the prefects had drawn out. The walls were lined with ornately decorated Christmas trees draped with silvery curtains that shimmered in the light of the candles floating from the ceiling, and the ceiling showcased the outdoor snowstorm clouding the stars above. The House tables had been pushed aside to create a large dance floor in the middle of the Hall and there was a stage where the staff table was usually placed. "Is someone playing?" Rose asked.

"I heard they got Silencio," Adam said. June and Dominic looked excited and Rose pretended that she knew who that was. The Great Hall was soon flooding with people and Dominic had gone to get punch when James came running through the crowd and jumped onto the stage.

He pulled his wand out of his pocket and amplified his voice to say, "All right, how's everyone doing? You all look wonderful tonight—especially you, Alice Longbottom, where are you—all right, sorry, Professor," he added much more quietly when he saw McGonagall glaring from the corner. "Ava's running a bit late, so on behalf of the Prefects and staff we wish you all a happy Christmas and hope you have a great time tonight. Are we ready for some music?" The crowd responded enthusiastically and James grinned, looking like he liked this a little too much. "Brilliant. All right, then, I'll finish up; please welcome Adonis Thorne and WWN Choice Award-winning Silencio." Everyone cheered while four men in their twenties, dressed in all black and carrying various instruments, walked onto the stage and started playing a dance song. The crowd quickly started dancing and it was significantly more difficult to navigate. Rose tried to find Dominic, but she was still pushing through to the punch table when James found her. "Hey, Rosie."

"Hey," Rose said. "Ava's late? Doesn't seem like her."

James snickered. "Yeah, er, not exactly. She and Lucy didn't quite make it as far as the Hall. She offered to come with me, but she wasn't all that put together and we figured it'd look bad."

"Nice," Rose said. "What about you? Where's Hannah?"

James turned slightly pink and he said, "How'd you know about that?"

"I just… guessed. I don't know. A few people have guessed."

"Oh. Well, no, we're not here together. Think of how it'd look, our teams are rivals. Ours is a forbidden love," James said and Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm hoping I'll find her later though. I know you probably don't notice but really… damn."

"Well, I'll let you go dance to this… apparently popular band," she said.

James snickered. "Too mainstream for you? Yeah, they're cool, actually; they used to be more alt but you were too young to remember."

"You're two years older," Rose scoffed.

"I was too young too, I just knew about them because of Teddy," James said. "They're actually mid-30s, they just have a lot of anti-aging enchantments going on. It's not bad, though. You're here alone too?"

"Er—" Rose started to say, and at that moment Dominic pushed through the crowd holding half glasses of punch.

"Hey! I got bumped a few times, but there's still some punch," he said, handing her one. "Er, hi, James," he said cheerfully, and James blinked several times.

"Er… hi…" he said blankly, and then looked at Rose in alarm. Rose looked back at him, pleading for him not to say anything, and he slowly smiled. "Good match last week."

"Oh, yeah, I thought so too. You shouldn't be too put out, it was a really close one," Dominic said, and James nodded curtly. "You put all this together, then? It's well done."

"Thanks. Well, I should go. Keep the people happy," James said. "Unless the Head Girl pries herself away from her girlfriend, I'm emceeing alone, so…"

"Bye, James," Rose said. James disappeared into the crowd and Dominic chuckled.

"Yeah, he doesn't like me, and you can't tell me otherwise," he said. Rose was embarrassed and he shook his head. "No, it's fine, don't. Big families are mad, I know."

"Thanks," she said, smiling, and he grinned back.

"Let's dance," he said, and Rose decided then that she wasn't going to care what her frankly insane cousin thought of her date and let herself let go for the rest of the night. Before she knew it, it was fifteen minutes before midnight and the second slow song had just ended. They were at the drinks table when Professor Rudomin approached them and said, "Rose, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I'll wait here," Dominic offered, and Rose followed the professor to the corner of the room.

Once they came to a stop, Rudomin's voice dropped to barely above a whisper and he said, "Professor McGonagall wanted you to know that we've just received word the Department of Mysteries was broken into earlier tonight." Rose was confused before he said, "We don't believe they found what they were looking for."

Rose tried to think of how this could have anything to do with her before it dawned on her. "You mean the prophecy?"

Rudomin blinked. "No. I meant the Resurrection Stone. How did you know about the prophecy?"

"We heard Uncle Harry and Kingsley over the summer. No one stole that, did they?"

"No, that's safe too," Rudomin said. "The Aurors got there quickly. We believe they were working with Nott, but no one was captured."

"Okay," Rose said. "Is that all?"

"For now, yes," Rudomin said. "McGonagall would like to see you right when we return from holiday in her office."

"Okay, thanks, Professor." Rose tried to go back to the table but Rudomin stopped her.

"Rose? Don't tell anyone else who doesn't know about the prophecy. The last thing we need is that getting out."

Rose was a little startled and said, "Okay, I won't, Professor." Rudomin went back to chaperoning and Rose found Dominic again quickly.

"Sorry about that," she said.

"It's all right," Dominic said. "Er, I'm not sure another dance'd be… well, do you want to get some air?"

"Sure," Rose said, and they walked out into the grounds of the castle, where several couples and groups were wandering along the paths and several more hiding in the shadows.

"The world isn't ending or anything, is it?" Dominic asked. "Rudomin looked a little…"

"No, everything's fine," Rose said, glad that she was telling the truth, at least for now, though she wasn't sure how permanent that statement was if Nott's people were breaking into the Ministry.

"Good. I had a really good time tonight," he added, and Rose smiled.

"Me too." She was happy that it was true; granted, she had been a little concerned after Scorpius's comments but Dominic had been nothing but sweet, not to mention how completely handsome he was…

"I'm glad." They slowed down on the path and he said, "Er, I don't want to push it, but can I kiss you?"

Rose's stomach flipped and she considered quickly, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. No one was, but she did see a flash of what looked like Emma's dress in one of the alcoves of the castle and made a snap decision. "Yes, of course," she said, and he did, swiftly, bending down a little to reach her due to the significant height difference. Rose's heart skipped a beat as she realized he wasn't a bad kisser. She knew she didn't want a boyfriend right now, but something about kissing someone in full view of someone who hated the very idea of them associating with each other was thrilling, almost more so than the kiss itself, and she let it continue for a minute or so and probably would have for longer if there hadn't been James's amplified voice shouting out into the grounds, "It's midnight, you all have to come in or it'll be a teacher next time."

Dominic pulled away and smiled at her. "I'll walk you up to Gryffindor."

"Sure," Rose said, still breathless, and they fell in with the crowd of mildly embarrassed couples running back into the castle as James stood by the doors, smirking a little. She tried to hide her face but saw his expression grow a little hardened as she passed through the doorways. They hurried up to the Gryffindor common room, as much as she might not have wanted to, and soon they were standing outside of the Fat Lady portrait.

"I'll see you after Christmas?" Rose said, a little unsure.

"Only if you'd like," Dominic said, shrugging. "Anytime, Rose."

"…Good night," she said, smiling, and Dominic turned around to go back down the stairs to the Hufflepuff dormitories on the ground floor. "Baubles," she added to the Fat Lady, who swung open without a word, looking tired. Rose entered the common room, a little dazed from the evening, and saw James and Al on the sofa near the door, ties undone and jackets hanging off the arms.

"She's finally in," James said. "I felt I couldn't go to bed till I knew you made it back."

"I'm fine," she said, rolling her eyes. "I can handle myself, you know."

"Heard you were perfectly fine with Dominic handling you," Al muttered, and James stifled chuckles. "You had a better night than Scorpius, at any rate."

As much as she did not at all want to talk about Scorpius, Rose asked, "How do you mean?"

"Emma and him are through. They had some row. Apparently he wasn't paying attention to her or something. I don't know." Rose felt herself go red at her feeling for some reason slightly happy about this, and attempted to change the subject.

"Did Rudomin talk to either of you?"

"About the Stone? Yeah," Al said. "Little frightening."

"I might have accidentally told him we know about the prophecy," Rose said, and both Potters looked at her in alarm.

"What did he say?"

"He said we just have to keep it quiet. He didn't look happy, either."

"Well, I thought we were forgetting about that entirely," James said.

"I'd like to, but if someone that'd very much like to kill all of us broke into the same department it's hidden in, I'm going to be a little concerned," Rose said.

"Yeah…" James sighed. "I don't know, Rose. I don't like this."

"I know. It doesn't sound like Nott knows about it anyway, if he didn't look for it, so that's a good thing. But don't be surprised if our parents are talking about it tomorrow," Rose said.

"Yeah. Thanks for the heads up, at least. I'm going to go up to bed," James said, standing up. "Coming, Al?"

"Yep," Al said. "Night, Rose."

"Good night," Rose said, and headed up the girls' stairs herself. She fell asleep uneasily that night, wary about what would happen when they got home the next day.


	11. The Christmas Party

**Hi guys! Here's the other one tonight, as promised! I have a feeling some of you will probably like this one... enjoy! Please review! -Kelly :)**

CHAPTER 11

THE CHRISTMAS PARTY

Surprisingly, Rose didn't think Rudomin told their parents that they knew about the prophecy, because no adult mentioned anything when they came home the next day, and the few days preceding Christmas went by quickly with not much occurring other than preparing gifts and helping her Gran with the frankly at this point ridiculous number of jumpers that had to be ready by Christmas morning. Predictably, most of Rose's presents were books, not that she was complaining, and with the exception of a Weird Sisters vinyl from James and her jumper, green this year. While most of Christmas took place at the Burrow, after dinner Teddy and Victoire invited the cousins over to Grimmauld Place for their own party, and Rose eagerly went with James, Al, and Lily. However, when they entered, though she was glad to spend time with her older cousins, she realized that she had forgotten that Scorpius lived there and was currently talking to Lucy towards the back of the living room. Rose decided she was simply going to ignore him as much as possible and talked to Min and Al at the table until Lucy and Teddy sat down with them some time later. "Hey, Rose, happy Christmas," Lucy said. "Have you seen the paper today?"

"No, why?"

"Wizengamot's called an emergency session. No one's going home for the holidays. It means they're feeling the heat from the movement," Lucy said.

"Or they're responding to the break-in," Teddy said, sounding slightly less excited, "but there is some talk about that, too, you're right."

"It's odd that nothing was taken," Rose said, and Teddy nodded.

"Yeah, we're a little worried that something actually was," he said. "The Aurors barely got today off, and I've got to be in early tomorrow."

"My dad's not been home except to sleep for a few hours a night since I got home," Lucy said. "Not that I mind. We'd probably have gotten in some huge row if he'd been around."

"Well, you are causing quite the problem for him," Teddy said. "Half of wizarding Britain's calling for his resignation. I heard the Muggle PM doesn't even like him much."

"He was friends with the last one," Lucy said, rolling her eyes. "Thank Merlin that one's out, though. The bloody education reform or whatever he thought he was doing's messed up the state schools and—"

"Lucy, you've lost us," Al said, and she sighed.

"Sorry. I've been looking into Muggle politics; you know, once they're integrated I'll have to know things like that." Al smirked and looked down at the table. "Anyway, why does Nott want that Stone anyway?"

"Well, I can't think of anyone the likes of Nott that wouldn't want the Hallows," Rose said. "I mean, Master of Death? What Dark wizard wouldn't want that?"

"But he hasn't got the other two. The Wand's hidden, and even if he found it, he's not the Master of it, and he doesn't even know where the Cloak is."

"Well, Al's school trunk isn't exactly the most secure hiding place in the world," Min said.

"Regardless, he isn't Master of anything without the Wand. That'll be the real problem for him. Though I admit I don't fancy him having his hands on the Stone either," Lucy said.

"He didn't find the Stone, we're not there yet. But it's a possibility. I can't tell you much, but I can tell you the Stone's nowhere near the Department of Mysteries anymore," Teddy said. "Harry's set on finding the perfect hiding place. Personally, I think we should just chuck the bloody thing in the ocean, but I'm not the Chosen One, so…"

Al rolled his eyes. "I think people give him a little too much mileage from that. Honestly, I'm not sure he knows what the hell he's doing."

Rose and Lucy shared a look. "Er, he's the head of the Auror office," Rose said, and Al shrugged.

"Still. He's not always right, and this is sort of important to be impartial about."

Teddy shrugged. "It's not a problem quite yet. Let's not talk about it here, I'd rather have fun. Anyone want to help pick music?"

"Yeah, definitely," Lucy said. "Hold on a second, though." Teddy nodded and walked over to the record player and Lucy turned to Rose. "Hey, the Union's having a protest this weekend, want me to pick you up?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, just text me the details," Rose said.

"Brilliant. I'll see you later, then," Lucy said. "Bye, guys." Lucy went over to talk to Teddy and Rose wandered away from the table to talk to James as the Weird Sisters were replaced by a new girl punk band while Teddy and Lucy loudly debated whether this counted as 'real music'.

Towards the end of the night, Rose found herself part of the last group of cousins left at Grimmauld Place. James, Molly and Fred were sitting upstairs with Teddy and Victoire, and Rose was sitting in the study on the ground floor with Lily while Al and Scorpius played chess across the room. The study was dusty and rarely used; they had only come in because of Al's insistence on a game of chess, and Rose was looking somewhere in the bookshelves, which stretched across the room in two long rows. She knew there must be hundreds of antique books in the room and was looking through with Lily when they started to hear Al and Scorpius talking. "So you think you're going to go for it?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good for you, mate. Don't let her psych you out. If you like her—"

"Who?" Lily asked before Rose could ask her not to. Al glanced over at them.

"Er, Prathna Patil. Fourth year Ravenclaw, hot as all hell."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Nice. Any personality traits you've noticed?"

"I mean she's clearly pretty smart—"

"You'd be surprised," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Just because they seek knowledge doesn't mean they have it."

Al snickered and Scorpius looked up at Rose. "Weasley would know about dating Ravenclaws."

"Yeah, whatever," Rose muttered, and Al suddenly became incredibly interested in his next chess move.

"No, really, tell us what it's like. Did Tanner constantly try to have intellectual discussions or was it more physical most of the time?"

"You could do to shut up, Malfoy," Rose said quietly, knowing that her ears must be going red or would be soon. "It wasn't like that."

"Oh, yeah? What was it like? Just so Al can be prepared."

"She doesn't want to talk about it, mate," Al said quietly, and Scorpius shrugged.

"She doesn't have to. But she won't let me have the last word, so—"

Rose hated that she was fulfilling his expectations when she blurted out, "Aidan was really sweet all right?"

"I bet he was pretty sweet," Scorpius said, smirking. "And exactly how much passion was there?"

"Excuse me?" Rose asked, feeling her face finally go red.

"I mean, from the looks of it, one date with Dominic was more than ever happened with Aidan, right?"

"Er, Lil, I think there are some cookies left in the kitchen, wanna go get some?" Al asked, and the Potter siblings quickly left the room as Scorpius got up from the chess table.

"That isn't any of your business, Malfoy," Rose spat.

"I'm just saying, I've heard you two barely touched. I'm sure that was really great for you."

"Everything was fine!" Rose exclaimed.

"So why'd you dump him?" Scorpius asked. Rose felt infuriated.

"Because—because I—"

"Because you what?"

"Shut up! Just shut up, Malfoy, or I swear to God—"

"What?" he asked, and Rose became incredibly distracted when he began to smirk again, clearly thinking he had won the argument, biting his lip and trying not to grin. She wanted to smack that look off of his face, but at the same time he was running his hand through his hair and she hated that he just looked so perfect and before she knew it she had closed the distance between them and reached up to pull him down to kiss him. He tensed suddenly and pushed her back. "Weasley, what the hell?!"

"Malfoy, just—for once, shut up," Rose mumbled, and pulled him back down to kiss her. Immediately, he responded by pulling her in as close to him as she could possibly be and brought his hands around to tangle in her hair. Rose had to pull away to breathe after a little while and Scorpius took the opportunity to back them into the first row of bookshelves. He kissed her again and she could feel this forceful angry energy from him that she never wanted to stop feeling. She could hardly think straight but eventually managed to pull away and whisper, "Al and Lily could come back—"

"Hold on," he said quickly, and the tone of his voice just made her even more angry at how pleased he sounded with the whole situation. He pulled her with him as he ducked behind the shelves, now pushing her against the back wall of the room, and Rose pulled him down to kiss again. He pulled back after a few seconds and whispered, "I reckon I'm better than Tanner or that Allan git, huh?"

"Malfoy, shut _up!_ " They kissed again and he shrugged, infuriatingly enough. She couldn't help it anymore. She completely lost herself in Scorpius Malfoy, despite the fact that it wasn't nearly the way she had wanted to. Even so, she wasn't sure this wasn't almost better. She didn't even notice how long it had been until Lily called from outside, "Rose, James says we're leaving!"

Rose broke away from Scorpius and looked up at him. He looked marginally less put together than before but not nearly as much as she was sure she seemed, irritatingly enough, and he smirked down at her as she said, "Move, Malfoy."

Scorpius slowly let go of her and backed away to allow her to move away from him and the wall, and he was still watching her as she crossed the room to get her purse from the floor. "Just like that, huh? Leaving?"  
"What do you want, a heartfelt goodbye?" she muttered, and he was suddenly in front of her, shaking his head.

"Well, no, but some acknowledgement of my existence—and what you just did—"

"What we just did."

Scorpius smirked again, and said, "If I remember correctly, you were the one that jumped me, Weasley. Not that I'm complaining."

"It was a mistake," Rose said, and intended to walk towards the door, though Scorpius remaining in his place directly in front of her was making it difficult."It was a mistake I liked," he said, "and one I'd be more than happy to repeat."

Rose looked at him, face still burning, and shook her head quickly. "Just… good night, Malfoy." She walked past him and out of the door, already knowing her resolve was anything but strong. It made her even more angry that Scorpius probably knew that, too.


	12. The Union Protest

**Hi everyone! This one's kind of long, but I hope you like it! Please review, and thanks for reading! -Kelly :)**

CHAPTER 12

THE UNION PROTEST

26-12-2021

Dear Maggie,

I hope you had a lovely Christmas, mine was certainly eventful. I don't know quite why I'm telling you this, but I just can't keep quiet anymore, it's driving me mad. Scorpius and I were arguing and it was just so frustrating and all I could think about was how I felt about him, even though I usually won't even admit it to myself, and I don't know what happened but I kissed him and he kissed me back and we were completely furious at each other but it was… really good and now he thinks this is going to keep happening and I definitely don't want it to, but I'm starting to think that maybe I do so you need to convince me that I'm being insane and it's a terrible idea, because in my head I KNOW that it is but I just can't listen to myself. Seriously, please help, I'm going mad and I can't tell anyone here, they'd freak out.

Rose

30-12-2021

Dear Rose,

I'm not going to say I told you so… but anyway. I can't decide whether I agree with you or I want details, so I'm just going to say that you need to think about it yourself. Also, I've seen pictures from people he knew while he was here, so I … definitely don't blame you. I mean, damn. Seriously, though, I can't recommend angrily making out repeatedly, but you know, do whatever you want. If you want to be with him seriously, you should, but if you don't you need to tell him because if not he's going to get his hopes up. I know you're going to say you don't have any real feelings for him but I doubt that. Anyway, write back soon, especially if there's more to tell. I miss you!

Maggie

Rose made a conscious effort not to think at all about Scorpius and the party after that night, but she couldn't help but tell someone, and Maggie seemed like the safest choice. Everyone else, though, was completely in the dark, and when Al asked why they had stopped arguing after he and Lily left she simply told him that they decided it was pointless to argue about something like that and wouldn't tell him anything else. He didn't seem all that suspicious, though, and Rose was grateful at how oblivious he could sometimes be. The Wizengamot remained in session for the whole holiday break, something Lucy was very excited about, as it meant they would actually be there for the protest. When she came to pick Rose up on that Friday night, she seemed a little nervous, however. Once they had left, Rose stopped her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, her voice a little too high to be believable. "It's just… it's nothing."

"Okay," Rose said. "Are we meeting Bella there?"

"Er, no, we're um, we're meeting them at the headquarters. We're going to help organize the volunteers," she said.

"Oh, okay, sure," she said.

"Great, thanks, Rose," Lucy said, smiling. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Rose grabbed onto Lucy's arm and they Disapparated. When they arrived in Diagon Alley, Lucy led the way down the street to a building that had been empty as far as Rose remembered, but now had a new plaque on the door that read PROGRESSIVE UNION OF WIZARDS FOR MUGGLE-WIZARD EQUALITY. They entered and found a large open space containing four desks and a large table in the middle, in addition to a loft space on the left side that was labeled PRIVATE. Bella was sitting at one of the desks, talking to a boy that seemed hardly older than James. She looked up and smiled when they entered.

"Hey, guys! Rose, this is Will, he's my assistant director of the Union."

"Hi," Rose said.

"Hey. Rose Weasley?" he asked. He was American, Rose noted as she nodded, and Lucy walked further inside up to Bella's desk.

"What are we doing tonight?" she asked.

"We've got signs upstairs, so we'll pass those out when people start coming in, and then we're going to be outside the Upper Chamber committee meetings, I think," she said. "Your, um, your dad'll be there, I expect?"

"I think so," Lucy muttered. "Er, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, sure," Bella said, and turned to Rose to say, "Could you and Will wait for people to come in and tell them the general plan?"

"Okay," Rose said, and Bella and Lucy went up to the loft area. She walked over to Will at the table. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"We have clipboards with sign-in sheets," Will said, smiling. "Fascinating, I know."

"What are they talking about, do you know?" Rose asked. Will shrugged.

"Uh, not sure. It sounds like it could be about the Minister," he said.

"Yeah, they don't exactly have the best relationship," Rose said. She picked up one of the clipboards and leaned against the table. After a few moments, it felt more than a little awkward to stand in silence so she turned to Will and asked, "So you're American? Do you know Maggie Olson?"

"No, if that's someone from the exchange program you all did I went to Ilvermorny, so I don't know any Salem people, sorry," he said. "I'm from Florida, so Salem would have been a little out of the way."

"Ilvermorny… isn't that the exclusive one?" Rose asked, frowning.

"Full of snobs? Yep. That's kinda why I'm here now," Will said. "I kind of had to be an activist to not be crushed by all the purity crap around me."

"Right," Rose said, nodding. "I didn't think that was much of a problem in America."

"Depends on the region, really," Will said. "But the bias is more against Native Americans than Muggleborns a lot of the time, you're right. Then again, things used to be a lot worse, what with Rappaport's Law and everything. I'm guessing you've learned about that?"

"Only because I've self-educated, actually," Rose said. "Our history classes are more about ancient history."

"That's surprising," Will said. "We've learned about you a lot. I suppose you people cause a lot of the trouble."

"Maybe recently," Rose said, laughing a little, and suddenly a group of young-looking witches came through the door and Will rushed to sign them in. Rose was surprised at the number of people that had come by the time Lucy and Bella came back downstairs carrying piles of signs that they deposited on one of the desks. Rose rushed up to Lucy, who looked a little dazed. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Everything's fine, why?" Lucy said.

"You're lying," Rose said definitively, and Lucy sighed.

"I'll talk to you later," she said, and Bella called everyone's attention to her and Will at the table.

"All right everyone, thanks so much for coming out! We'll be going to the Ministry shortly, so if everyone could grab a sign and meet back for Apparition instructions."

"I'll get us some signs," Lucy said, and disappeared before Rose could say anything. Someone in the crowd tapped Rose on the shoulder and she whirled around to see a young man, probably in his mid-twenties.

"Er, hello?" Rose said, uncomfortable.

"Rose Weasley? I'm Bennett Cavill, I'm a big fan of your work in the Prophet."

"Oh, er, thank you," she said, and attempted to go back into the crowd when Bennett stopped her.

"I'm heading a movement that I think you might be interested in," he said.

"Er, I'm very busy working for the Union right now," Rose lied, and he nodded quickly and continued.

"Yes, I know, but you see, if you were to only express support for us I think your base would be sympathetic to our cause…"

"Er, what is it?"

"We're trying to petition the Lower Chamber to pass a motion of no confidence," Bennett said. Rose didn't want to admit that she didn't know what that meant, and Lucy was back from grabbing signs at that moment.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Lucy Weasley? Bennett Cavill," he said eagerly, shaking her hand quickly.

Lucy shot a glance at Rose before she said, "Er, hi, Bennett, what did you say?"

"They want to pass a motion of no confidence," Rose said, confused. "Do you know what that means?"

Lucy looked surprised but not exactly disapproving of the notion, and said, "Do you really think it would go through?"

"I think so. A lot of people are very angry, thanks to your exposes. Especially Lower Chamber seats. I think—"

"That the threat of losing constituency support would motivate them?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Sorry, would someone explain what that means?" Rose interrupted.

Bennett said quickly, "Oh, sorry. A motion of no confidence means that the Lower Chamber would express desire for the Minister and his administration to resign. That includes the Upper Chamber, by the way, in the Wizengamot, since they also serve as the Minister's cabinet."

"Wait, so you're saying that if they vote to do this, the entire administration has to step down?" Rose asked.

"Yes. Unless they can satisfy demands made in two weeks or less, which has… never happened."

"Has this ever worked?" she asked.

"Er, once, in recent history. Put Millicent Bagnold in office. Though loads of people regret that."

"Anyway, the point is that it has worked and it will work again. We just have to get enough people to support the action."

"And you think we can?" Rose asked.

"If you would write a piece encouraging it," Bennett said.

"Aunt Ginny wouldn't publish that," Rose said.

"I think she would, if only to not seem biased," Lucy said.

"Well, what are you going to do if he finds out you had something to do with it? You can't oust your own father, Lucy," Rose said.

"…Won't be a problem," she said quietly, "I'm already not his daughter in his mind."

"What?" Rose asked.

"Everyone listen up!" Will called at the front, and their attention was turned to him. "We're all going to apparate and meet in the main lobby of the Ministry, all right? If you're a minor, we have people up here to help you get there. Everyone clear?" There was a wave of assent through the crowd and he nodded. "All right, see you there, then," he said, and then he and Bella Disapparated. The rest of the crowd began to do the same, and Bennett continued to talk as they prepared to go to the Ministry.

"If the Prophet won't publish it, we can distribute leaflets, petition the Lower Chamber, loads of other ways. Word is they've already been considering it."

"Maybe," Rose said. "I'll… think about it."

"Brilliant, thanks," Bennett said, grinning, and Disapparated quickly. Lucy and Rose did the same, and as soon as they reached the Ministry, the volunteers began protesting. Rose held up her sign and looked around, noticing that practically no one was in the lobby. She turned to Lucy and asked, "Is anyone even going to see this?"

"The Upper Chamber works through that door in committee," Lucy said, pointing to a door on the ground floor less than twenty feet away from their group, "so I'd say they will."

Rose smiled and kept moving with the group, but eventually she became too curious about before and asked, "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Lucy's smile faded and she said, "…I had the biggest fight with my dad I've ever had. He told me that if I went tonight, I shouldn't come back."

"Merlin, Lucy, are you okay?" Rose asked, concerned. "You should—you can come back to the Burrow with me…"

"No, it's okay, I've known this might happen," she said. "I'm staying with Bella and Will at the headquarters now. The bag I brought tonight's enchanted, I have most of my stuff with me. I just have one more semester of school anyway, and then I'll be working with the Union full time, so…"

"Are you sure?" Rose asked, and Lucy nodded.

"Yeah, don't worry," she said. Rose let the subject go, albeit reluctantly, and the protest went smoothly until about half an hour later when they heard the sound of breaking glass faintly from behind them. "What was that?" Lucy asked, and her question was quickly answered by several cloaked wizards running out of one of the doors leading down a corridor of offices, who quickly began casting spells into the crowd. The protestors fought back as best as they could, and Lucy ran towards Rose and pulled her down to hide behind the fountain in the center of the lobby. "You have to stay here, you can't do magic outside of school, there's no way they'll let you off with self-defence, they hate us both."

"I know, but… what am I supposed to do?"

"Stay here until I know what's going on!" Lucy said.

"It's got to be Nott, isn't it?" Rose exclaimed. "We should just get out of here, he's probably looking for me—"

Lucy sighed. "You're right, damn. I need to find Bella and tell her I'm taking you home! Wait here!" Lucy ran off back into the thick of the battle and Rose watched anxiously.

The Upper Chamber of the Wizengamot, after a while, emerged to see what the commotion was and quickly began attacking the intruders as well, forming a strange picture as the Union stood fighting with the people they were currently protesting. Lucy returned to Rose's hiding place and said, "Okay, let's go!"

Rose stared out into the crowd, feeling a creeping sense of guilt as she realized that she was right, that Nott wouldn't care about a random protest unless he was expecting to find her, and said, "They have to see us leave!"

"Are you mad?" Lucy exclaimed, and Rose shook her head.

"If they see I'm gone, they'll leave the others alone!" Rose shouted, and Lucy considered it.

"Fine," she finally said. "But just a split second! And I can't take you back to the Burrow if he knows you've left, he'll just go there! I'm taking you to Grimmauld Place."

"Wait, don't!" Rose said quickly.

"Why the hell not, Rose? I'm trying to protect you, you can call your mum there and go home tomorrow!"

Rose bit her lip, knowing there was no way to explain, and said, "Fine!"

Rose and Lucy dived out from behind the fountain and ran right through the line of fire. One of the cloaked wizards aimed a spell at them and Lucy cast a quick Shield Charm before they Disapparated and appeared on the steps of Victoire and Teddy's house seconds later. "That should have been enough, I reckon," Lucy gasped. "We only almost got killed."

"Sorry," Rose said, and Lucy knocked on the door. Teddy opened it cautiously, holding his wand, a moment later.

"Let us in, please, I was playing Carissa Gray's new album at the party last week and you hated it," Lucy said quickly, and Teddy let them in.

"Can't be too careful. What's going on?" he asked them as they followed him into the kitchen, where Victoire and Scorpius were sat at the table, Victoire holding a fussing Annie.

"We think Nott broke into the Ministry. They attacked our protest," Rose said. "I think it was to find me."

"He saw us leave," Lucy added. "I didn't think it was a good idea to take Rose home, can she stay here tonight?"

Scorpius looked up at them and locked eyes with Rose as Teddy said, "Sure, yeah. We've got an extra room upstairs. It's okay, Vic?"

"Yeah, of course. Are you two all right?" she asked.

"We're fine. I'd better get back to the headquarters, though," Lucy said. "I'll see you at school, Rose."

"Thanks, Lucy," Rose said as her cousin walked back out the door, and Victoire jumped up, handing Teddy their daughter.

"You can borrow some of my things, Rose," Victoire said, and led her up the stairs. "Are you sure you're okay? You ate at home, right?"

"Yes, I'm okay, and thanks, Victoire," she replied. Victoire took her up to the master bedroom and pulled a nightgown out of the closet, handing it to Rose. "The spare room's at the end of the hall. Let us know in the morning when we should take you home. I can call your mum if you want."

"Yeah, thanks again," Rose said, and retreated into the bedroom. It was very tidy, with a small twin bed covered in a black duvet shoved into the corner and an ornate sofa on the other side of the room. There was a plaque on the door that read in small letters REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK, and Rose rolled her eyes at the name. She changed and laid back on the bed, thinking about what Bennett had said. She knew she wanted to help, that it sounded like a good idea, but she had no idea where to even start if the Prophet wouldn't publish it. She thought for a while before deciding to simply go to sleep, and had almost convinced herself that it wasn't a problem that she was in the same house as Scorpius when there was a faint knock on the door. She got up, hoping it was Teddy or Victoire, and was put out but not entirely surprised when she opened the door and saw Scorpius there, still fully groomed even though it was nearly eleven o'clock. "What, Malfoy?"

He raised an eyebrow. "It's still Malfoy, is it?"

"Of course it is, what were you expecting?" Rose snapped. He rolled his eyes.

"I was thinking you might want to talk about last week."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"The hell there isn't," he said, and walked into the room, despite Rose having not at all invited him to. She shut the door quickly, not wanting Teddy and Victoire to notice he was there, and turned around to glare at him.

"Just because we kissed doesn't mean everything's fine," Rose said. "I'm still furious with you, and you're still an arse."

"Right, right, I was a mistake," Scorpius said quietly, walking closer to her again. Rose felt her heart beating in her chest but couldn't quite tell whether it was from rage.

"Yes, a mistake," she said flatly. "I've learned from it. It's done. It's not going to happen again."

"Sure," he said, rolling his eyes. "You still have feelings for me. You still want to kiss me again."

"Do I?" she asked coldly. He looked down at her, now barely a foot away.

"Well, you are trembling," he said.

"I am not," she said, fully aware that she was, and he just shook his head. "It won't happen again. Forget it."

"I think it will," he said. "Actually, I'm fairly certain it will."

"You wish," she replied quickly, and Scorpius turned away and walked past her to the door.

"Yeah, I kind of do, to be honest," he said, smirking, and left quickly, slamming the door behind him. Rose returned to the bed, sighing heavily. This was going to be harder than she'd thought.


	13. The First Memory

**Hi everyone! I'm so sorry it's been so long, I've been really busy, but here's the next chapter! I hope you like it, please review, and thanks! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 13

THE FIRST MEMORY

The adults had determined that the danger had passed by midday the next day, after Hugo had spent a tense night at the Scamanders' and their parents had been up all night, waiting for Nott, who never came. Rose was allowed to return home, then, something she was only too happy about, as she had hardly slept that night and spent much of the morning avoiding making eye contact with Scorpius. It was only a few more days before they were returning to school, and Rose sat in a separate compartment from Al and Scorpius, with James and his friends, until they'd reached the castle that night. Lucy found Rose in the crowds leaving the train and pulled her into a carriage where she was sitting with Zoe Chang-Li and Maria Goldstein. Rose was very glad that Aidan wasn't there and the carriage started rolling along down the dirt road up to the castle. "Hey, Rose," Lucy said. "Everything was okay, then?"

"Oh, er, yeah, Nott never showed up. I just stayed with Teddy and Victoire for the night. It was fine."

"Good. Any chance we could work on writing Bennett an essay for his motion this week?"

"Probably, I'm going to be a little busy with Quidditch I think," Rose said, and Maria shook her head.

"There's supposed to be storms all week, I don't think you will," she said. "Actually, we're a little worried they're going to cancel some matches."

"That'd be terrible," Lucy said. "James would die."

"Probably, yeah," Rose laughed. "Er, but yeah, I'll work on something, sure."

"Great."

"Are we having a meeting this week?" Zoe asked.

"That's still up for debate," Lucy said. "If enough people have the time, I think so. We should probably meet more often, actually, since Nott's been busy again." The carriage reached the castle after a few more minutes, and when they arrived, Ava ran up to their carriage.

"McGonagall wants to see both of you, she says it's important," she said. They got out of the carriage and Lucy kissed Ava.

"A hello would've been nice," Lucy said, and Ava smiled.

"Sorry, it's been a stressful day. I woke up this morning with an owl in the dormitories from the headmistress. Er, but really, I think you need to go see her. And I saw some people going into her office earlier, I don't know if that has anything to do with this but…"

"All right, come on," Rose said, and the three of them walked up to McGonagall's office. When they reached the gargoyle guarding the staircase, it swung open for them without question, which made Rose a little anxious. As they neared the door, Rose could hear faint voices growing louder and knocked on the door hesitantly. A few seconds later, the door opened and they were greeted by, to Rose's surprise, Malcolm Zabini, wearing a suit and tie and looking anxious. "Malcolm?" Rose asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Er, I'm an aide for the International Office of Magical Law—mind you, I don't agree with the heads of the department, of course, I'm just trying to move up so I can—"

"Mr. Zabini?" a voice called from inside, and Rose recognized the voice with a nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach. Malcolm held open the door and looked at them helplessly as they entered to find Representative Davis standing around Professor McGonagall's desk, the headmistress herself sitting behind the desk looking displeased. "Miss Weasley and Miss Weasley," he said, smiling in a way that could be described no better way than polite. "It's been some time."

"Hardly long enough," Lucy said, smiling in the same false way. "What's your business here?"

"We'd just like to talk to both of you," Davis said. "You've made yourself quite prevalent in the political climate recently. You were in attendance at the rally interrupted by Theodore Nott and his followers, correct?"

"Yes," Rose said, "why?"

Davis produced a newspaper from his coat and showed it to the both of them. Rose read the title quickly and her stomach sank.

 **NOTT MOVING NORTH, REPORTS SHOW—EXTREMIST SPOTTED IN SCOTLAND FRIDAY**

"You're putting the Hogwarts community at great risk through your actions."

"How does this have anything to do with us?" Lucy scoffed.

"Well, Miss Weasley, Nott was targeting members of the Progressive Union, and despite evidence to the contrary, neither of you are meant to be continuing association with this organization," Davis said. "That is, assuming you'd like to continue attending Hogwarts."

"Excuse me?" Lucy exclaimed.

"This is simply unacceptable behavior for Hogwarts students," Davis said. "Not only is it dangerous, it is the blatant promotion of irresponsible and radical ideas."

"And promotion of ideas such as the second-class citizenship of Muggles isn't irresponsible or radical?" Lucy asked. "Would you tell a child of yours they were worth less than you if they were a Squib?"

Davis looked offended and said, "My children are- I hardly think it is appropriate to suggest that—"

"It's not an insult, Mr. Davis, though you seem to think it is," Rose said flatly, and he looked as if he was trying with great difficulty to restrain himself.

"We've been very lenient with you. But it is clear to everyone with actual experience in these matters that your cause has done nothing but divide the international magical community and promote fear and misinformation."

"Division? Are you having trouble garnering support in the Confederation, Mr. Davis?" Lucy said, using a tone that clearly made Davis only angrier.

"My business is none of your concern," he replied.

"Actually it is our concern—as an elected official, your job is to represent us," Rose said.

"I'm an appointed official," he snapped. "I cannot believe your arrogance. The world, ladies, does not usually revolve around you. There are more important things than one interest group's social agenda, and I can only imagine the way Percival must be handling this kind of insolence, and in a midterm elections year too—"

"We're aware it's an election year, that's rather the point," Lucy said.

"I can see that," he said. "This has gone far enough. No more writing for the Prophet, and no more protesting, or I will personally see to it that both of you are expelled."

"Mr. Davis, that is my area of authority," McGonagall exclaimed, and he shook his head.

"For now. Goodbye, Miss Weasley… Miss Weasley. I dearly hope this is the last time we will be seeing each other."

"The feeling is mutual," Lucy snapped, and Davis walked out of McGonagall's office.

Malcolm quickly followed him after muttering a quick, "I'll try to calm him down a little," and Lucy sighed.

"Can we go, Professor?"

"You can, Miss Weasley, but I'd like Rose to remain her for a while."

"Er, I'd be happy to, but Al's going to have to be on curfew duty by himself," Rose said, and McGonagall nodded.

"Right—Miss Weasley, could you find Mr. Potter and tell him that another Prefect will be sent to help him?"

"Sure," Lucy muttered, and left quickly, leaving Rose alone in the room with the headmistress.

"How were your holidays, Rose?" McGonagall asked after a few silent seconds. Rose decided to avoid trying to summarize everything that had happened in just a few words and shrugged.

"Usual, I suppose. I had to hide the night of the protest, but I was all right."

"Good. Do you have some idea as to why I've kept you?"

"Er, I think this may be about our Legilimency lessons? I've been practicing with Al."

"Not quite." The headmistress leaned slightly farther over her desk and said, "I wasn't aware if your parents had informed you, but we've decided to begin instructing you in more advanced forms of magic. Given the current situation and your exceptional promise, I think there is no better time to do so."

"When you say advanced forms of magic, Professor, what do you mean, exactly?" Rose asked.

"Well, Legilimency would be included, along with more rigorous instruction in magical theory and Transfiguration studies. I would also like to share with you archives of mine that might help you to see the reasons behind Dark wizardry, and how it takes root in even the best of us. Your parents, along with your uncle, have agreed that this kind of study would be beneficial to you and, by extension, to all of us."

"Are you… training me?" she asked. "Why?"

"Frankly, Miss Weasley, we expect that you will have to fight, and very soon," McGonagall said. "And if anyone your age could be a great help to those fighting for good, it is you."

Rose looked around nervously. "But, er, what about—I mean, Al—"

"Al will learn advanced defensive magic from his father in the coming summer," McGonagall informed her. "We've agreed that it is best to reinforce your strengths than attempt to cover everything in such a short time."

"And these archives… what will they show?"

"Among other things, the wars that your parents and the previous generations fought in. We can begin tonight, if you think you are ready." McGonagall looked at her over her spectacles. "Are you ready, Miss Weasley?"

Rose hesitated before nodding. "Yes."

"Follow me." McGonagall stood up and walked to a corner of the office, where a small bowl sat on a pedestal in a small, wrought-iron cabinet. The headmistress opened the cabinet and searched around the vials strewn throughout the inside until she found one marked with impossibly small script. She emptied the contents, a wispy gray substance, into the bowl and Rose realized that the object was a Pensieve. "Are you familiar with this magic?"

"It's a Pensieve, isn't it?"

"Yes, Miss Weasley. Albus Dumbledore procured this memory from an old Hogwarts professor during your parents' time at the school."

"What will I see?" Rose asked, feeling uncertain.

"The beginning of the Order of the Phoenix." Rose hesitated before taking a deep breath and brought her head slowly down to the water, where figures and outlines began to take shape in the liquid until she could see that she was standing in a relatively nice London flat, a two-level you'd expect to find in a perfectly quaint area like Hyde Park. There was a hallway that Rose was standing at the end of, opposite of a large room that opened into a kitchen. Several people sat talking in hushed voices at the table, and Rose saw one of them stand up and walk quickly down the hallway. Rose realized soon after that it was the original James Potter, looking a bit younger than he had when she'd met him through the Resurrection Stone, who embraced a boy standing next to Rose that looked about that age as well. Rose saw that the boy looked remarkably like Teddy and gathered that this was a very young Remus Lupin.

"Moony, we were beginning to worry," James said, grinning. "Welcome to the Order. Get here alright?"

"Fine, thanks," he said, and Remus looked over his shoulder after grinning back at his friend.

"Oh, er, Padfoot should be round soon, and Wormtail's getting here tomorrow," James explained.

"Soon? Where is he?" Remus asked.

"Running intelligence, I think, something like that," he said. "Er, Lily's here, though. She'll come down in a bit, if you'd like to say hi."

"Maybe, yeah," Remus said. "Er, is this flat going to be big enough?"

"Dumbledore thinks so. We'll have to share rooms, but it should be okay. I think Peter's going to be with the Prewetts so you're with Padfoot. Don't mind, do you?"

"No," Remus said, "Er, yeah, that's fine."

"Good." James broke into a grin. "It's good to see you mate. How've you been?"

"You know, the usual," Remus said, and the door burst open as he talked to reveal a young Sirius Black, strolling in along with two girls Rose didn't recognize. Sirius looked around the room and broke into a grin when he made eye contact with the two men."Moony!" he said, and jumped at him, enveloping Remus in a hug that they held for a few seconds.

"Hello to you too, damn," James muttered and Sirius broke away from Remus, laughing.

"Hey, Prongs," he said, hugging him as well, and he added, "Are we getting started?"

"Yeah, should be soon. Lot of them are already in there," James said. As they waited, Remus introduced himself to the two girls, something Rose was grateful for, who were named Marlene McKinnon and Mary MacDonald. Soon, the three Marauders, along with Marlene, Mary, and Lily Evans, made their way to the table at the end of the hall, where much younger versions of a number of people Rose had met before sat. Kingsley Shacklebolt was there, along with Aurors Rose had seen work with her dad, and at the head of the table Albus Dumbledore waited quietly for the other members to focus their attention. Notably, there was a redheaded woman in her twenties, very pregnant along with three small children running around their heels, who were also accompanied by two young men with hair just as red. Rose knew that they looked familiar, but couldn't quite place who it was until one of the Aurors addressed the woman as 'Molly' and Rose realized that she was looking at her grandmother, as she had been when she was barely ten years older than Rose was now. She almost laughed aloud when she realized that the small toddler nervously waddling around the flat was Uncle Percy, but she was soon drawn to the meeting that had just started.

"Our reports have shown that You-Know-Who's gathering followers all around London, and that he's already started branching out," Sirius said grimly. "There'll only be more recruits from here. Muggle attacks have only gone up, too. Four this week, all in Surrey."

"Bloody hell," James said. "You'd think people'd have more sense."

"Do we know how many he has on his side in total?" an Auror asked.

"We aren't sure," the girl named Marlene said. "Could be hundreds, maybe even more than a thousand."

"Merlin, that's a lot," another Auror murmured, and Dumbledore nodded.

"This is more serious than I thought. We will have to double our own recruitment efforts. May I ask you to help with this, James?"

"Sure, Professor, whatever you say," James said.

"I can help," one of the young redheaded men said, and James grinned.

"Great, Fabian, I'll find you tomorrow and we can start scoping out neighborhoods."

"Do we have any intelligence from within the Ministry?"

"Minister Bagnold has been increasing security measures, but still hasn't decided to consider the Followers a terrorist organization," Kingsley said. "That will limit our government support. I don't know if we'll have any."

"Well, we've already got half the Aurors," Remus pointed out, and Kingsley smiled a bit.

"Yes. We do. Speaking of which, Professor, Frank and Alice Longbottom would like to know if they can do anything to help."

"Of course, bring them here and I'll speak with them," Dumbledore said. "For now, I think it would be best for everyone to get rest. Mr. Lupin, welcome, by the way; I hope your accommodations will be to your liking."

"Honestly, Professor, anything's better than a shelter," he said. An uncomfortable silence followed until James stood up.

"Well, I'm off to bed, then, I think. Unless, Molly, need a ride home?"

"Oh, no, we'll be staying with Fabian and Gideon for the night. It's too long back to the Burrow for me, who knows, the poor dears might want out while we're driving through the country," Molly replied. "Arthur's working late tonight as it is. Thank you, though, James."

"Sure," he said. "Remus, Padfoot, come on." Rose followed them, along with Lily, up the stairs to the bedrooms, listening to their conversation. "What'd you think? It's bloody terrifying if you ask me."

"Reggie's in love with the idea," Sirius said gravely. "Says he's going to run off and join. Makes me sick... I think my parents are actually supporting it. Anyway, it's not my fault if he gets himself killed."

"I'm sorry, Sirius," Lily said, and he shrugged.

"It's all right. It's just… I can't believe it. I knew they were awful about that kind of thing, but you know, you grow up with someone and now he wants to… whatever, I'll see you tomorrow," Sirius said, shaking his head, and entered one of the bedrooms, slamming the door.

"He'll be alright?" James asked Remus, who shrugged.

"I hope so. I'll… try," he said, sighing, and James nodded.

"Well, good night, mate," he said, and James and Lily entered the opposite room. Remus followed Sirius through the first door and the other Marauder got up from where he'd been sitting on the bed to move towards Remus. Suddenly, the image became very blurry and Rose couldn't see a thing. There was a silence of several seconds before they spoke again.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked. Sirius didn't respond. "Sirius, look at me."

"I'm fine," he said. Rose still couldn't see their figures, but they were barely whispering. "I just… he's my brother. I'm worried about him, even after what I know he's done now…"

"That's perfectly normal," Remus said. "I'm…sorry."

Sirius sighed and said, "I know." He said something else, but Rose couldn't hear because the sound faded away and after a while, what was left of the image of the memory faded away and she was jolted back into McGonagall's office.

"Slightly tampered with, I know, but I hope the meaning was clear," McGonagall said. Rose was still a little shaken from the experience, but nodded. "It is late, I'll let you go tonight; we'll be meeting regularly, weekly if possible. I'll send you a message next time."

"Thank you, Professor. Good night."

"Good night, Rose." Rose left from the headmistress's office quickly, thinking about what she had seen, and hurried up to the common room, ignoring the thoughts about Nott getting closer and closer as much as she could.


	14. A Visit to Hagrid's

**Hi everyone! Thanks so much for reading, I hope you like it and please review! Thanks! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 14

A VISIT TO HAGRID'S

The next week or so was quiet for Rose, apart from an Army meeting where Lucy railed against Davis as usual and a few tutoring sessions with Arya. She hadn't heard from McGonagall yet about meeting again, so she didn't ask anything of the headmistress and went about her business as normally as possible. It was mid-January when Rose was in the Great Hall at the tutoring table and saw Hugo walking up to them anxiously. He made eye contact with her and looked surprised, and began to run back to another table. Rose looked over at Al, who shrugged, and she got up to run after her brother. "Hugo!" she exclaimed, stopping him from sitting back down between Tyler and Collin. "What is it?"

"Nothing, leave me alone," he muttered.

"Really? Do you need help with something? What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" he exclaimed, and Rose caught sight of Hugo's papers strewn about the table. She was startled to find that one of his essays was marked with a P, and a Charms test had a similar grade.

"What's that?" Rose asked, and Hugo stepped in front of the pile.

"Nothing, it's nothing!"

"It's two Ps," she said, and he rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, Rose, we can't all be top of the class—"

"That's not just not top, that's a failing grade, you're smart, why—"

"I don't know, okay, just don't tell Mum!" he exclaimed, and Rose looked at him seriously.

"If you don't let me help you, I will," she said.

"Bloody snitch!"

"I'm trying to keep you from failing! Is this a regular thing?"

Hugo looked down at the ground and said, "Dunno, I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"Well, I'm supposed to see Flitwick—"

"Today?"

"Yeah."

"I'll go with you."

"Please don't," he groaned.

"I will. Come on," she said. Hugo glanced at his friends with a final plea, and Rose pulled him away from the table. Hugo led the way to Professor Flitwick's office, acting for all the world like it was some sort of death march, and knocked on the door tentatively when they arrived. Flitwick opened the door and smiled when he saw them.

"Mr. Weasley, come in. And Rose, wonderful, come in." They both sat down in the chairs in front of Flitwick's desk and the elderly professor sat down opposite them. "So, Hugo, I understand you're having some trouble."

"Yes," he mumbled, "I guess."

"Why is that? Do you have trouble paying attention?"

"Well, yeah, I guess, I always have—"

"He has ADHD," Rose added, and Hugo glared at her.

"Ah, I understand. So is it a matter of trouble studying?"

"I guess? I can't really read the book, it's too difficult…"

"It's written on a relatively easy level, is there some kind of problem focusing or…?" Flitwick asked and Hugo shook his head.

"No, I dunno, it's hard for me to read, it's all… it gets all jumbled up like… like the words get all mixed up…"

Flitwick looked at Rose, puzzled. "Does he have dyslexia?"

"Er, I don't think so, it sounds like it but he's never been tested," Rose said.

"Er, I think I do," Hugo muttered. Rose turned to look at him.

"How long have you thought that?" she asked. He looked down.

"A while… years… I just… I didn't want Mum to—you're both so bloody clever and I can't even read."

"Hugo…it's not that you can't read, you've just never been taught how in a way that works for you," Rose said. "And Mum won't care!"

"How do you know that?" he exclaimed. "You don't know that!"

"She loves you, Hugo, and they just want to help you."

"Since when are you on their side? You're the one who's always talking about being independent and—"

"That's different!" Rose said.

"Why? Because it's about you?"

"Okay, enough, Hugo, you need to tell Mum and Dad."

"…Can you tell them?" he said.

Rose sighed. "I'll help you tell them…"

"Okay." Rose turned to Flitwick, who was looking at them apologetically.

"Is there any kind of program or adjustments that we can get for him?"

"I'll speak to Professor McGonagall," Flitwick said. "You two can go, I'd be happy to allow you to retake the test when you're ready, Mr. Weasley." Hugo nodded and they both left after Rose thanked Flitwick.

Rose shut the door to the office and said, "You need to at least come to tutoring from now on."

"Okay, okay," he muttered. "Can we stop talking about it?"

"Sure," Rose said. "Er, want something from the kitchens? I reckon Hetty still likes me even though Scorpius doesn't." Hugo didn't respond and Rose sighed. "How about we go see Hagrid, okay?" Hugo seemed to perk up a little and nodded. Rose led the way down the grounds, thankful it wasn't currently snowing despite the storm clouds brewing in the sky, and Hagrid had thrown open his door a few seconds before they got there.

"Fancy seeing you here!" he exclaimed. "How long has it been?"

"Sorry, Hagrid," Rose said, smiling, and he grinned and hugged her, dwarfing her easily.

"Hello, Rosie. And you, Hugo, I reckon you're even taller than the last time."

"It's been three weeks," Hugo mumbled, but he cracked a smile.

"What's the matter with you?" Hagrid asked.

"Apparently I'm stupid," Hugo muttered.

"He's not… he's dyslexic, probably," Rose said. "He was pretty upset, I thought…"

"Oh, come on, that doesn't matter!" Hagrid exclaimed. "You're as clever as anyone, how could you not be, with Hermione for your mother? Here, come on, I'll make some tea." Rose followed them in and sat at the overly large kitchen table with Hugo as Hagrid put a kettle on the fire. "So, how've you been, Rosie? I haven't seen you in forever, what've you been up to?"

"Haven't you read the Prophet? She's a madwoman, she's got half the Ministry on her tail," Hugo snorted.

"Right, well, you and Lucy," Hagrid chuckled. "How's Percy taking that?"

"He disowned her," Rose said. Hagrid looked up, shocked.

"Oh, I'd like to talk to that little… well, Lucy'll be all right."

"Yeah." Rose looked around and saw a potion brewing on one of the side tables. "Hagrid, what's that?""That? Oh, well, me and the bloke filling in for Potions this month're brewing Mandrake Draught, see if it'll help that Campbell kid."

"But he's a ghost," Hugo said, confused.

"Worked the last time," Hagrid muttered. "It's our only option at the moment anyhow."

"Do they know what caused it?" Rose asked. "The attack?"

Hagrid shook his head. "No. It's odd, though, they don't think it's the same thing that happened when the Chamber was open, they think it's got to be something else. Course, don't know what—they've had me looking through the grounds but there's nothing here, I swear. I mean, I can't find anything, but it feels like there's gotta be something out there, don't it? It feels… different somehow, I don't know. You two all right?"

"Oh, yeah, we're okay," Rose said, though she was thinking about the creature that had come into her room that night, and added, "I know what you mean, though. It does feel different."

"Mum says there's going to be a war," Hugo said suddenly, and Rose looked at him. "She does, I heard her talking to Uncle Harry. All of them do. Do you think so, Hagrid?"

Hagrid looked at them gravely and said, "It feels like the last time. Death Eaters are being seen more and more, Azkaban breakouts, politics going mad, and the Headmistress is organizing… well, I don't think I should tell you about that."

"She's been… she's going to start teaching me privately, but I don't really know for what," Rose said.

Hagrid shook his head. "Sorry, Rosie, can't tell you that. She'll tell you when it's time, I'm sure." Rose nodded hesitantly and he smiled again. "Well, it's getting late, you two best get back to the castle. You can stop by anytime, you know. And tell your cousins, too," he added.

"Good night, Hagrid," Rose said, and they left as he called back, "Good night!" Rose started to trudge back up the hill to the castle, with her brother following close behind. He was quiet until they had almost reached the Entrance Hall.

"You've heard them, haven't you?" he asked. "Talking about it?"

"Yes, I have," Rose said quietly. The Aurors guarding the door let them in and shut the doors behind them.

"So do you think they're right?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know, Hugo," Rose sighed.

"Right about what?" Rose whirled around to see, of all people, Scorpius standing behind them. "Hi."

"Hi, Malfoy. Nothing," she said. "Come on, Hugo."

"It's fine, Rose," her brother muttered, and Scorpius raised an eyebrow.

"Well? What?"

"The war," Hugo said, before Rose could stop him, and Rose groaned before starting to walk up the stairs. The two boys followed her, talking about what Hagrid had said, as much as Rose didn't want them to. She knew Hugo didn't have any reason to not talk to Scorpius, but she still wasn't happy about it. When they reached the common room, Hugo went up to the dorms and Rose was about to do the same when Scorpius pulled her into one of the corridors that led to the toilets. She sighed.

"What, Malfoy?"

"I can't talk to you any other way," he said, shrugging. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Leave me alone?" she suggested. "You know, you could take a hint."

"Listen, Weasley, I don't want to fight."

"It kinda seems like you do. Why were you even downstairs anyway?"

"I couldn't find you here."

"Well, obviously," Rose said, and Scorpius groaned.

"Look, Weasley, I just want a straight answer."

"About what?"

"About how you feel about me."

"How I—I don't feel anything about you. Except annoyance," she muttered.

"Yeah, that's not true," Scorpius said, "and you know it. Why did you kiss me?"

"I don't know, all right?" Rose exclaimed. "I don't know! I just… I don't want to talk about this."

"Well, what do you want?" Scorpius hissed. Rose looked at him, infuriated, but before she knew what she was doing she had kissed him again, and they stayed that way for what felt like forever, but was probably less than a minute, before Scorpius pushed her away and stepped back. "What I can't do," he whispered, "is this." He stalked away, leaving Rose even more confused and angry than before.


	15. The Second Attack

**Hi guys! Since Chapter 14 was a little short, here's another one tonight; I hope you like it, please review! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 15

THE SECOND ATTACK

Rose woke up in the middle of the night the same night with the same paralyzing feeling as she had had when the creature had appeared. She glanced down to the foot of the bed with dread and, sure enough, the shadow was back, staring at her. She couldn't make out anything but eyes, which were bloodshot and wide, and she felt like screaming but she couldn't move at all. The creature made a strangled hissing noise and bounded off the bed and out the window. As soon as it had left, Rose could move again and she sat up, breathing heavily. Almost immediately, she heard Scorpius's voice in her head.

 _What the bloody hell was that? Are you okay?_

 _Why do you care?_

 _You've got to be joking. You're lucky I'd just gone to sleep. I'm waking up Al, come down to the common room._

Rose hesitated before she decided that if she didn't go, they might wake half the House trying to get to her. She threw a cloak on over her pajamas before grabbing her wand and slipping out of the room as quietly as she could. When she reached the common room, Scorpius and Al were coming down the stairs quickly, Al looking a little annoyed to be awake. "What's going on?"

"There was something in her room. On her bed."

Al looked at Rose in alarm. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. But I think it might have something to do with Osric."

"You think?" Scorpius said, sighing. "You can't just not tell us these things."

"I don't have to tell you anything!" Rose exclaimed.

"This is about us, too, it has to be!" Al replied. "You think something's randomly attacking ghosts? It has nothing to do with Nott or anything like that?"

"Well…" Rose mumbled.

"Look, Rose, we've got to figure out what it is. Has this happened before?" Al asked.

"Once. Before Christmas."

"It hasn't said anything?"

"No. I'm not sure it can. I can't even tell what it might be."

"One way to find out," Scorpius said. "Restricted section."

"I'll get the Cloak," Al sighed, and turned around to go back up to their dorm.

Scorpius and Rose stood in silence for a few seconds before Scorpius asked, "Were you ever going to tell us?"

"I might have, if every time we've talked since Christmas you hadn't tried to bring up… everything."

"To be fair, we've spoken twice." Rose didn't quite know how to respond to that and ignored him until Al came back down the stairs, Invisibility Cloak in hand.

"All right, then, let's go," he said, and they left the common room quietly under the Cloak. They reached the library fairly quickly and threw off the Cloak as soon as they were inside the Restricted section. "Have you been able to find anything about this thing yet, Rose?"

"No," she said, "but it seemed to be pretty mad when I was looking at the list of Forest creatures in Hogwarts: A History."

"They've got copies in here, I'll find one," Scorpius said, and Rose and Al sat down at one of the tables as he walked down the far aisle.

"It didn't hurt you, did it?" Al asked.

"No, I'm okay," Rose said, shrugging. "It's… it's fine."

"Okay." They were quiet for a while before Al asked, "Has McGonagall talked to you about…?"

"Training?" He nodded. "Yeah. I was in her office last week. She said she'd call me back soon, but I haven't heard from her."

"My dad's going to help me," Al said. He suddenly looked very grim and said, "You know, if there's a war I don't think I'll be at Hogwarts much longer."

"What?" Rose asked, shocked. "You can't just leave!"

"My dad did. Your parents did," Al said. "Look, it's different for you. This is where you belong. I think… I think I'm meant to fight, more than you. I have to. I'm his son.""And that makes you destined to die, does it?" Rose scoffed.

"Maybe," Al said, and Rose was startled by how serious he sounded.

"Al…" she started to say, but Scorpius had returned with the book.

"Let's get started," he sighed. "This is going to take a while, it's huge."

"It's not that big," Rose muttered, and she flipped to the creatures section. "Here, start looking."

"I'll be lookout," Al said, jumping up. Rose rolled her eyes.

"You just don't want to read it," Rose said, and Al shrugged as he walked towards the front of the library. Rose tried to ignore Scorpius and scanned the pages until he pointed out a paragraph about halfway through the creatures section.

"Look at this," he said. "This says that fairies can invade dreams, is that it?"

"No, I was awake," Rose said.

"Are you sure? It can be pretty lifelike, it says."

"I was awake, Malfoy."

"Fine. Merlin, I'm only trying to help." They remained quiet and continued to look through the creatures section. They turned a page just as their lantern, sitting on the ground a few feet away, suddenly went out. "What the hell?" Scorpius muttered.

Rose stood up quickly and pulled out her wand. With a shaky voice she said, " _Lumos_."

Nothing was there, and she and Scorpius stared at the shelves for a second before a shadow ran across them, scraping noises and a horrible strangled sound coming from it. Scorpius grabbed her hand and pulled her back closer to the table as Al cried out at the front of the library, and they heard a little girl shriek outside before Al ran back to the table. "It's that little girl you tutor—Arya, she's outside—" Rose ran as fast as she could to the front of the library, where Arya was standing, frozen, just outside the doorway.

"That—that thing, what was that?" she asked. "That's from my dreams."

"That proves it, then," Al said. "Should we go to McGonagall?"

"And tell her we were out of bed?" Scorpius asked.

"Are you afraid of McGonagall? What are you, a bloody first year?" Al asked. "Er, sorry," he added, turning to Arya, but she seemed as if she hadn't heard him. "Look, that thing's loose in the school. Who knows what it'll do? We have to tell her."

"Al's right, let's go," Rose said. "Arya, you have to come with us. We're going to your aunt."

"I won't be in trouble, will I?" she asked hesitantly.

"I think she'll care more that you're safe," Rose said. "Why were you here?"

"I heard you guys leaving. I was up from my nightmares and I wanted to see where you were going," she said quietly. "Sorry."

Rose sighed. "It's okay, we just have to go. Come on, guys."

The four of them ran to the headmistress's office and the gargoyle let them up, looking frightened. They knocked loudly on the door, hoping it would wake her up, until she opened the door in a robe and slippers, looking affronted. Her face changed when she saw them and she immediately asked, "What happened?"

"There's some kind of creature loose in the castle, and it's whatever Petrified Osric," Rose said. "Arya said it was the same one."

"It's inside the castle?" McGonagall asked. They nodded and she pulled out her wand. "I have to wake up the rest of the staff. Mr. Malfoy and Miss Collins will come with me, but as you are Prefects I trust you to wake up the other Prefects in your House and evacuate Gryffindor tower. We will move everyone to the Great Hall, understood?" Al and Rose nodded and everyone left the office quickly, Rose running back to Gryffindor with Al.

"I'll get James and Hector, and—" Al started to say, and Rose waved him off.

"Got it!" she called, already climbing the girls' stairs. She knocked on the sixth year door and shouted, "Alice!" until she finally answered in a cloak, looking confused. "We have to evacuate and get to the Great Hall. McGonagall's orders."

"Did you all hear her? Get downstairs," she called into her dorm, and turned back to Rose as the sixth year girls pushed past them. "If you get Gemma, I'll start getting the first years out and work my way up, so you two can work downwards."

"Thanks!" Rose called, and repeated the process with Gemma and the seventh years before moving down to wake up her own dorm.

"We heard you leave, is this your fault?" Min asked, grinning, and Rose shot her a look."Not the time, Min," she said, and Min stopped smiling.

"All right, all right," she said, and Rose and Gemma beat on the fourth year door until Emma, Roxanne and the others started running out. Soon, they'd gotten everyone down to the common room and James appeared with Al and the first year boys.

"We can't find Arya Collins!" Alice shouted to Rose.

"She's with McGonagall!" she called back.

"And Malfoy, I'm guessing? He's the only other one missing. What the hell is going on?" James asked.

"There's something loose in the castle," Al said.

"What is it?"

"We don't know," Rose told him, and he shook his head.

"You know, nothing like this happened until you two showed up," he said, and ran to the front of the room. "Okay, guys, we're going to start moving out, stay with your year, it'll be easier to find you!" Gemma ran up to Rose and said, "You and Al are going to walk with James in the front, I'll be in the back with Alice and Hector, okay?"

"Got it," Al said, and Rose followed him up to the front as the students began to pour out of the portrait hole. They caught up to James quickly and all of Gryffindor practically ran to the Great Hall. When they arrived, the staff was already taking attendance and stationed at every door and passageway. Ava was talking to McGonagall and James ran up to join them as Rose helped the other prefects make sure the whole House was accounted for. When that was finished, there was nothing to do but wait, and it was probably three or four in the morning by the time McGonagall let everyone go back to bed. Rose stayed behind and found the headmistress as she was leaving the Great Hall's main doors.

"Professor!" she called out, and McGonagall stopped.

"Yes, Miss Weasley?"

"Did you find out what it was?" Rose asked.

"No. I'm assuming that is what you were attempting to do out of bed in the middle of the night?" she asked. Rose looked down and McGonagall shook her head. "It's all right. We don't know what it is, but I would appreciate any information you have. It's definitely done enough to warrant investigation."

"What do you mean?"

McGonagall said grimly, "The Hufflepuff ghost was found Petrified. He has been taken to the hospital wing. Do you know anything about this creature?"

"It's been in my room more than once. I wake up and it's there. It's like I'm paralyzed until it leaves."

McGonagall looked away, looking deep in thought. "I have an idea of what sort of creature possesses an ability like this."

"What do you think it is, Professor?"

"I think the creature may be a hag of some kind. But I can't imagine what kind of hag could Petrify ghosts… I'm not certain, but that is my best guess. I expect to see you in my office tomorrow after classes, Miss Weasley."

"Yes, Professor."

"Well, then, good night." The headmistress walked away solemnly and Rose returned to the common room, determined to find out if McGonagall was right.


	16. The Motion of No Confidence

**Hi everyone! Thanks so much for reading, and please review! There should be another chapter within the week. Thanks again! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 16

THE MOTION OF NO CONFIDENCE

 **A MESSAGE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE LOWER CHAMBER OF THE WIZENGAMOT**

 **(Note: The Daily Prophet does not endorse or condemn the following views.)**

 _Witches and Wizards of the Lower Chamber of the Wizengamot,_

 _The Modernist students, in agreement with a growing movement of your constituents against the administration of Minister Percival Weasley, ask you to consider in your conference this Monday the passage of a motion of no confidence in this administration and its appointed members. This, of course, would include the office of the Minister and the seats of the Upper Chamber of the Wizengamot that also serve as the advisory council to the Minister. Our reasoning regarding this request is best represented through our previous essays and informational pieces about the Upper Chamber representatives that have taken part in corrupt and self-serving activity during this administration, taking bribes both from the Ministerial staff themselves and from the officials appointed by this administration. Minister Weasley has repeatedly shown that he is most motivated by personal ambition and interest, rather than the interests and concerns of the people of Wizarding Britain. The Minister has completely disregarded the civil protests that have taken place these last two years and his administration has been accused of brutality and unfair treatment of arrested protestors of the Progressive Union of Wizards for Muggle-Wizard Equality, an accusation I can personally attest to be true. He has also been shown to be profoundly corrupt, having accepted and given bribes throughout his tenure as Minister. Many of the appointed officials that the Minister has put into office have been exceptionally corrupt as well, most notably the British representatives to the International Confederation of Wizards, Mr. Everett Davis and Mr. Daniel Clark. Our previous essays have shown that these members have participated in bribery and rigged elections, and have been instrumental in the violation of students' freedom of expression at Hogwarts school through the formation of the Ministerial Educational Taskforce, which was shown to be at fault for the imprisonment and abuse of students last year. While this motion will not remove these officials from office, removing the witches and wizards who put them in positions of power will leave their offices to the discretion of the succeeding Minister. We urge you to listen to the voices of your citizens, as this governing body has shown to be possibly the most comprehensively representative and moral institution of the Ministry of Magic. We hope that the liberal majority of the Lower Chamber of the Wizengamot will choose the side of progress and honest civil service._

 _Rose Weasley, representing the Progressive Union of Wizards for Muggle-Wizard Equality and the Modernist Student Association_

Rose sent the essay to the Daily Prophet the Thursday before the Wizengamot was supposed to convene, and it was published in the Friday edition. She received a letter Saturday morning from Bennett Cavill saying that the public response had been mostly in favor of the essay, as they had been mostly in favor of the idea in general lately. He also warned her that she would start to receive a lot of hate mail, though she hadn't gotten any yet by the time she woke up on Monday morning and went to her first class. The other students in Transfiguration didn't really seem to be aware that something was happening at that moment in London that would determine the future of wizarding Britain; in fact, they were taking a test, and Rose was so nervous that she was one of the last to finish. McGonagall looked at her, puzzled, as she turned in her test.

"Miss Weasley, are you all right? We discussed the formula's applications to Switching Spells last night in my office."

"Yes, Professor, I'm just… a little distracted."

"The vote will come in soon, and there's nothing more that can be done. It's best to simply wait. Although I feel I must warn you that I'm not sure I have the power to protect you should the administration act against you."

"…Right," Rose said, returning to her desk feeling even more uneasy. The rest of the class passed with time crawling on as slowly as possible, and Rose was only too glad to get up and move to the next class if it meant doing something.

"We'll be duelling today, push the desks out of the way and form a circle!" Professor Rudomin announced as he entered the Defense classroom. The students immediately burst into excited chatter as they adjusted the classroom, and once they were in a circle the professor stepped into the middle. "I hope you've been paying attention in class lately, because we're going to attempt to integrate the skills you've learned recently into the duels." It was nearly the end of February, and Rose had been fairly distracted by McGonagall's lessons, though she had been paying attention in classes like Defense. She hated to admit that in classes that weren't of immediate interest to her, she'd let Scorpius beat her in the last month or so. She was more occupied by her study of nonverbal spells and the memories of the First Wizarding War she'd been seeing in the Pensieve, but it didn't mean she'd let her classes slip completely. She was still quite worried about the OWLs. "Many of the spells we've learned, however, are a little too dangerous to practice on each other, so I'll just say that by the end of class I'd like to see the majority of you perform a successful Stunning Spell."

"Professor, you mean you actually want us to Stun each other?" Dylan asked.

"That's correct, Mr. Finnigan-Thomas, you're all young. I hardly think it'll do much more than blast you onto the floor. That being said, do not aim at the heart. Understood?" The class murmured assent and he nodded. "Good. Let's begin. Devon Goyle and Dominique Weasley." The two walked into the circle and bowed as per Rudomin's instructions. Min started by trying to Disarm Devon, and Devon managed a quick Shield Charm before sending a jinx at her. This continued for a few moments until finally, Min shouted, " _Stupefy!_ " and knocked Devon off his feet, though he didn't fly into the wall like Rose had come to expect from witnessing battles. "Good! Very good," Rudomin said, smiling, and then called, "Blake Collier and… Rose Weasley."

"Oh, bloody hell, she's fought Nott, she's going to kill me," Blake complained.

"Mr. Collier, enter the circle if you please. I'll be happy to escort you to the hospital wing should the need arise," Rudomin said flatly, and Rose thought she detected him roll his eyes slightly. "Bows and begin."

Rose bowed as Blake did the same, and Blake quickly shouted out, " _Expelliarmus!_ " Rose blocked it and sent a Disarming spell back at him, which worked, and Blake scrambled for his wand while Rose hesitated. She didn't want it to be over so quickly, or what was the point? Blake got his wand back and called out, " _Petrificus totalus!_ "

" _Protego!_ " Rose called back, easily stopping the spell, and then she decided to try and shouted, " _Stupefy!_ "

Blake was thrown back onto the floor and skidded for several feet. He seemed to have been truly Stunned for a moment, as he took some time getting up.

"Wonderful, Miss Weasley, that's really the full point of the spell, good work."

"We've seen you do it stronger," Blake mumbled. "I was a little worried I'd be unconscious."

"You could have tried it," Rose pointed out, "before I hit you with it." Blake muttered something and walked out of the circle.

"All right," Rudomin said, "so next pairing, Lexa Rae and Anna MacDougal." The two Slytherin girls walked into the center as Professor Longbottom came into the room.

"Rose Weasley, can you come with me, please?" he asked. Rose glanced at Al before going to follow Neville. He stopped her and said, "You might want to take your things with you."

Considerably more concerned now, Rose grabbed her bag and placed her wand inside as she threw it over her shoulder and followed him out the door. As soon as they were out of earshot of the classroom, he began speaking. "We're going to Hogsmeade, keep walking and don't speak to anyone."

"Hogsmeade?" Rose asked, confused.

"Yes. Otherwise Prince might find you before we can get you out."

"What do you mean, Professor?"

"The motion of no confidence passed," he said. "Almost simultaneously, the Upper Chamber gave the Ministerial Hogwarts representative the power to expel students. They're helping Davis follow through on his word."

"I'm expelled?" Rose asked.

"Not while McGonagall has anything to say about it—and the bill is still being processed by the Minister's staff. We're taking you home before they figure out exactly how much power they have, and whether Percy will sign it. The only flaw in the plan is that if anyone contests an expulsion they must be given a hearing. Your hearing will likely be scheduled sometime in the next two weeks, unless we can use our influence to block it."

"Why in the next two weeks?" Rose asked. They had reached the entrance hall and the Aurors guarding the doors let them through, though they looked at them a little longer than Rose was used to.

"The Weasley administration has a two week grace period to contest their impeachment. If they can't dispel the negative attitude towards them during that time, they'll be removed."

"Oh, right," Rose said, remembering her conversation with Bennett.

"They're convinced the only way to regain public approval is to render you powerless."

"Wonderful," Rose muttered.

"In a way, it is, for us; their actions are only decreasing their approval rating. Anyone who's got any brains knows all they're trying to do is get rid of you."

"So Professor McGonagall is going to try to push back my hearing?"

"As much as she can. Your mother is preparing a statement as well, and she has considerable influence at this point, so this should work out in your favor," Neville said. "Until then, you have to stay away from Hogwarts. Someone from your family will be waiting at Hogsmeade to take you home. We've already gotten your trunk, it'll be waiting for you at home."

"Thanks, Professor."

Neville smiled. "Gladly. It was very brave of you to publish that essay despite what they'd told you would happen."

"Well, it seems they were right, but thank you."

"Not yet." They reached Hogsmeade about ten minutes later, and entered the Three Broomsticks to find her father waiting for them at the bar. He jumped up when he saw them and pulled Rose into a hug.

"Hey, Rosie," he said. "Don't worry, this'll blow over. Thanks, Neville," he added, shaking the professor's hand.

"Anything to help, Ron. I'll see you soon, I reckon, McGonagall will probably send me again," Neville said, and he ducked out of the pub quickly, returning to the castle.

"How are you?" her father asked.

"A little nervous," Rose admitted, thinking it was probably more than a bit of an understatement.

"Well, come on, then, we're going in to your mother's office. She wants to talk to you, as well as some of her staff."

"Wait, I'm going to the Ministry? Now?" Rose asked. Her dad nodded.

"Yeah. I didn't think it was the best idea at first either, but everyone agreed that it was better for you to act like you've done nothing wrong—because you haven't," he said. "Ready?"

"Sure," Rose said, though she was nervous, and they Disapparated. When they arrived at the Ministry, they were standing in the middle of the entrance hall, and her father quickly guided her towards the wall, but it was too late as there was a large gathering of press standing around the outside of the corridor leading to the Wizengamot chambers. A few of these reporters had seen them appear and as they tried to walk past, they shouted questions.

"Rose, is it true you've been expelled from Hogwarts?"

Rose turned to the man and said, "What? No, of course I haven't been expelled—"

"Rose, let's go!" her father called out. The reporter began to protest and he shouted, "You lot back off, she's a minor and I haven't allowed you to speak with her, let us through!" The reporters hesitantly let them go through, but not before taking several pictures. Rose followed him into the lift on the other side of the hallway and they closed it quickly. The only other person in the lift was an elderly woman, who seemed a little affronted by the chaos and didn't say a word until they reached the fourth floor and the doors opened at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. There was a young man waiting there for them, probably around 30, and he looked relieved to see them. "Ron, I thought the press had taken you."

"We got out of there all right," her dad said, shaking the man's hand. "Though Rose here was about to tell off one of them."

The man looked at Rose and smiled. "You'll learn that talking to them never does you any good. I'm John, John Taylor, your mother's senior advisor. We were just in the Lower Chamber when the motion passed, and we started getting calls about you. We're glad you made it here with your wand intact."

"So am I," Rose said, smiling a little, and shook John's hand.

"Your mother's in a meeting, so we'll be telling you all you need to know."

"And keeping her here?" her father asked.

"Of course. We'll make sure none of the press or anything get through those doors," John assured him.

"Well, I should probably get going, then, I'll see you tonight, Rose," her dad said, and Disapparated.

"All right, then, we'll go into your mother's office," John said, and Rose followed him down the hallway to the large door that Rose vaguely remembered from her early childhood. They entered and there was a large desk, along with a sofa that she was led over to, and a man even younger than John was waiting for them. "Oh, Killian, brilliant." Killian, who barely looked old enough to be out of school, crossed the room to shake Rose's hand.

"Rose Weasley. I'm Killian Wallace, I'm your mother's assistant."

"Yeah, I think I've seen you before, hi," Rose replied.

Killian smiled. "Probably. My legacy to date is standing five feet behind your mum."

"Careful, though, he'd like to be Minister some day," John added.

"Well, the position's open," Rose said, smiling, and Killian laughed.

"Almost—thanks to you. I'm a little young at the moment, but I reckon I'll have to compete with you someday."

"Oh, er, I'm not even sure I'm going into politics," Rose told him.

"Are you serious?" Killian asked, incredulous. "You've already angered half the Wizengamot by the age of 15. It's indicative of a long and illustrious career at the Ministry."

"All right, all right," John said. "We need to get Rose out of her uniform, it'll be less conspicuous. Until we know what's going on, she's an intern as far as anyone out of department is concerned. Could you—?"

"Already on it," Killian said. "Any favorites you left at home, or should I just grab something?"

"Er, what? Most of my clothes are in my trunk, so—"

"Got it. Be right back." Killian Disapparated, and Rose looked at John, confused.

"He'll be back," he said, and sure enough, two minutes later Killian had returned with clothes from Rose's closet at home.

"Good enough?" he asked, holding up the clothes.

"Er, yeah, it's fine," Rose said. "I'll just go change then." Rose carried the clothes, a pair of black slacks and a blouse she hadn't worn in a year or so, and changed quickly. On her way back to the office, a woman stopped her.

"Are you Rose Weasley?" she asked.

"Er…" Rose wasn't sure who the woman was, so she said, "No, I'm an intern for, er, Ms. Granger…"

"No, I've seen you in the papers, and on your mother's desk. I'm a friend of hers," the woman said. "My name is Iris Young, I'm a member of the Lower Chamber of the Wizengamot. I voted for your motion this morning."

"Oh, er, it's not mine, it's Bennett Cavill's, he's been the one campaigning for it," Rose said, and Iris looked startled at the name.

"When did you speak with Bennett Cavill?" she asked.

"Er, over Christmas. He asked me to write about it," Rose said.

"I would advise against talking to him again," she said. "He's a lobbyist. While I'm sure his intentions here happen to agree with your cause, he has a reputation for being manipulative."

"Rose!" a voice called from behind them, and Rose was glad to hear that it was her mother. "And Iris, how lovely to see you. I'll just take Rose into my office, all right?"

"Of course. Though I'm making an appointment for later today, Hermione," she said, and smiled as she left. Immediately, Rose's mother turned to her.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. She was just talking to me about the motion—"

"That's fine, but we need to be more careful. Come on, Rose," she said, and Rose followed her back into her office. John and Killian were waiting inside, and seemed surprised to see them.

"Hermione, we were told your meeting didn't get out until noon."

"There was nothing to discuss, hardly ever is. That committee will be the death of me," she said. "I found Rose in the hallway with Representative Young."

"Oh—she had just gone for a moment—" Killian said, and Hermione nodded.

"It's all right. I've been speaking to some of my other advisors and we all agree that it's a good thing for Rose to be in the public eye right now—to act as innocent as possible. We believe we will be able to delay your hearing until the grace period is over," her mother told her. "But that will still mean you will have some form of substitute chairing the Wizengamot during the hearing. They wouldn't ever allow me to preside. Fortunately, most of the public not involved with the administration is more or less on your side. Even if they don't agree with you, they know that it's obviously corrupt to expel you for something like this. You didn't actually break any laws that I can think of, for Merlin's sake."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Rose asked. Her mother smiled a little.

"You'll stay here. I'll give a statement to the press later, and you will have opportunities to speak with Lower Chamber members to further your cause."

"Brilliant," John said, smiling. "This will completely backfire on the Minister."

"That's the idea," her mother said. "I have to go, for now, and I'll get you a meeting with a few of the Labour representatives if you'd like." Rose nodded and her mother smiled. "I am very proud of you, dear." She left the office and Rose sat down on the sofa to begin thinking of what she was going to say.


	17. The Ministry Hearing

**Hi everyone! Thanks so much for reading, and please review! I love hearing from all of you! Enjoy! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 17

THE MINISTRY HEARING

 **WEASLEY OUT! MINISTER FOR MAGIC ELECTION BEGINS**

 _by Catherine Warbeck, Senior Political Correspondent_

 _At approximately 10:00 a.m. this Monday, March 14 2022, Minister for Magic Percival Weasley and his advisory council, the seats of the Upper Chamber of the Wizengamot, were impeached by the Lower Chamber of the Wizengamot. The decision follows a 14 day grace period since the Lower Chamber passed a motion of no confidence against the administration on February 28. In his farewell address this morning, Minister Weasley thanked his supporters for their continued allegiance and promised to "remain a voice for the Wizarding Conservative Party of Great Britain and Ireland, against the growing threat of radical liberal ideology that is attempting to destroy our way of life." The Minister in these statements is no doubt referring to the Modernist movement, headed by his own estranged daughter Lucy Weasley. Yet another key member of the Modernist movement is former Minister Weasley's niece, Rose Weasley, who despite being in only her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has been one of the loudest voices for impeachment of her uncle and the furthering of Modernist ideals, in conjunction with her professed membership in the activist group the Progressive Union of Wizards for Muggle-Wizard Equality. Miss Weasley is currently awaiting a hearing on her possible expulsion from Hogwarts School, official charges against her including libel and defamation. The Prophet states, however, that there has not been a student expelled upon these charges since the widely criticized Fawley administration in the 1930s. The Union announced today that they will be endorsing the Wizarding Labour Party's candidate for Minister in the upcoming election, current Head of the International Magical Office of Law Darius Kendall. Mr. Kendall has professed a belief in Modernist ideology in the past and announced his campaign only twenty minutes following Weasley's impeachment. The Wizarding Conservative Party has announced that their candidate will be Senior British Seat on the International Confederation of Wizards, Mr. Everett Davis. A public opinion poll has not yet been conducted, but it can be inferred that many citizens are in favor of the impeachment due to their previous responses regarding the passage of the motion two weeks prior. The Lower Chamber of the Wizengamot chose the official to temporarily serve as Minister during the nine-week election period, Ms. Hermione Granger, this morning. Ms. Granger is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and is a predictable choice as she is the highest-ranking official belonging to the majority party in the Lower Chamber. Ms. Granger has not released a statement at this time._

Rose was anxious to return to Hogwarts, but had to wait another six days for her hearing to occur due to the hectic schedule of the Ministry in the days following Uncle Percy's impeachment. She had begun to receive her schoolwork via owl post and felt that she wasn't too far behind. She was still nervous about missing lectures in class, however, especially with the OWLs approaching next month. Rose didn't feel very nervous about her hearing after she heard that the official that had been chosen to preside was the majority leader of the Wizengamot, a man named Garrett Burns, who was a member of her mother's party. However, when she was escorted by John and her father to the Wizengamot's chamber for the hearing, she couldn't help but feel a strange feeling in her stomach, like she was about to be sick. "Are you okay?" her father asked, and she nodded unconvincingly. "It'll all be fine, there isn't anything against you and Burns doesn't want you expelled. There's nothing to worry about, all right?" She nodded again and he hugged her. "I'm not allowed in, so I'll see you after the hearing."

"Bye, Dad," Rose said, and her father left the corridor slowly. John turned to her.

"Take a deep breath, it shouldn't take too long. You won't have to testify unless you want to."

"Right," she said. "Are you coming in?"

"Yes, I'll be right behind you," John said. "You aren't allowed an attorney for education hearings, it's mad but it's true, so there will be witnesses but no one representing you. Are you ready?"

"Not really, but let's go in," Rose said quietly. John took a deep breath himself and opened the door for her. The chamber was full of witches and wizards in long plum robes and tall, official-looking headpieces, in oval-shaped theater seating surrounding a floor containing a table and chair that Rose tentatively sat at. She noticed with unease the several cameras aimed at the courtroom floor, with reporters excitedly discussing the hearing and staring at her as they did so. John sat in the empty benches behind the chair, and soon, other people began entering the room as well. Rose was alarmed to see Prince enter, along with Davis, and sit on the opposite side from John, talking quietly. Rose didn't notice at first who had entered on her side because of how distracted they had made her, but soon noticed that McGonagall had taken a seat next to John, along with a man she didn't recognize. The members of the Wizengamot stood up after a few moments when the next person entered, a tall man with a long beard that Rose gathered was Garrett Burns.

"The Wizengamot will come to order," Burns said after a moment. "Disciplinary hearing the twentieth of March into offenses allegedly committed under laws protecting government officials from criminal libel and defamation by Rose Minerva Weasley of Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon. Interrogators: Garrett Cadmus Burns, Representative of Surrey for the Lower Chamber of the Wizengamot; Xavier Samuel, Senior Undersecretary to Temporary Minister for Magic Hermione Granger. Court Scribe, Veronica Jane Clearwater. Witnesses for the Prosecution: Iain Heracles Prince, Ministerial Representative to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Everett Benjamin Davis, Senior British Seat to the International Confederation of Wizards. Witnesses for the Defence: Minerva Isobel McGonagall, Order of Merlin, First Class, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Darius Jacob Kendall, Head of the International Magical Office of Law. Charges against the accused: libel and defamation, through her publication of essays denouncing the Weasley administration for corruption and bribery while in office." Burns looked up from the papers on his desk and nodded at her. "Good morning, Ms. Weasley."

"Good morning," Rose said, and her voice came out much higher than she would have liked. He smiled almost imperceptibly at her and addressed the room again.

"First witness for the prosecution called, Iain Heracles Prince." Prince stood up and walked into the center of the room. He glanced at Rose quickly before Burns addressed him. "Good morning, Mr. Prince. Please describe your position at Hogwarts School."

"I am the official liaison between Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic."

"And what does this job entail?"

"I work with the headmistress to ensure a safe and productive school environment."

"Mr. Prince, the prosecution has stated that you were given the power to punish students as you see fit should the incident 'disrupt the relationship between Hogwarts and the Ministry'."

"That is correct. That power was granted to me by the… former Minister for Magic Percival Weasley."

"I see. When was this power granted?'

"The 28th of February."

"Immediately following the passage of the motion of no confidence in the Weasley administration, correct?" Burns asked. Prince looked uncomfortable.

"Yes, I believe so."

"All right, Mr. Prince… you used this power to attempt to expel Ms. Weasley?"

"Yes, at once."

"But you were unsuccessful."

"Professor McGonagall… saw fit to appeal for a hearing," Prince said, looking annoyed. "Though I would like to point out that her disrespect for my authority was clearly demonstrated by her conspiracy with Professor Longbottom to remove Ms. Weasley from campus before my arrival."

"I am still the Headmistress of Hogwarts, Iain, and I will deal with my students as I see fit," McGonagall replied from her seat.

"The Wizengamot has not recognized you, Ms. McGonagall," Burns said quickly.

"I apologize, Mr. Burns," McGonagall said after a moment's hesitation, though she still looked at Prince with a cold stare. Burns cleared his throat and turned back to Prince.

"Please inform us why you chose to enact this punishment."

"I felt that Ms. Weasley's actions did in fact compromise the Ministry's relationship with Hogwarts."

"Why?" Burns asked. "Ms. Weasley was simply expressing a political belief."

"A political belief that undermined the Ministry."

"Possibly that undermined the current Minister, but not necessarily the Ministry or itself or any of its principles."

Prince smiled politely. "I disagree. Have I provided the information necessary?"

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Prince." Prince sat down indignantly next to Davis, who quickly stood up. "The Wizengamot recognizes the second witness for the prosecution, Mr. Everett Benjamin Davis."

"Thank you, Mr. Burns," Davis said. He walked down to the floor and said, "While it does at first glance appear that Ms. Weasley was simply expressing an opinion, it is difficult for us to believe that she did not mean for the relationship between Hogwarts and the Ministry to be hindered. Ms. Weasley has made it very clear that she holds very radical political beliefs that the Ministry does not consider to be particularly… loyal."

"I believe, Mr. Davis, you are speaking for the entire Ministry without considering that some members of the Ministry do not share your view on Ms. Weasley's political persuasion," a Wizengamot seat called out, an older woman sitting towards the top of the atrium.

"To be frank, Representative Matthews, it is the official opinion of the International Confederation of Wizards that any opinion supporting the breach of the International Statute of Secrecy is to be treated as rebellion," Davis said. The man next to McGonagall stood up.

"Will the Wizengamot allow me to respond to Representative Davis with evidence from the defence?" he asked.

Burns hesitated before nodding. "The Wizengamot recognizes Mr. Darius Kendall, for a response."

"Thank you," Darius Kendall said. "Mr. Davis, my department has been conducting affairs of state in conjunction with the Confederation throughout the time period of these allegations, correct?"

"Yes," Mr. Davis said hesitantly. "Though I fail to see why this is relevant."

"We have dealt with conference committees of the Wizengamot and foreign wizarding bodies attempting to regulate the enforcement of the International Statute of Secrecy for centuries now," Kendall said. "It has become clear in the last five years or so that foreign wizarding governments have become more relaxed in their enforcement of the Statute. While Britain has not followed their lead, there is no longer any clear consensus on the severity of the Statute of Secrecy's power anymore, if there ever was."

"Thank you, Mr. Kendall, the Wizengamot will allow Mr. Davis to finish his testimony now." Kendall nodded and sat back down. Burns addressed Davis again.

"Mr. Davis, if we are correct in the belief that the British representatives are not acting in accordance with all foreign nations, I fail to see why Ms. Weasley's political beliefs are of such great danger to the international magical community."

Davis looked angry now and said coldly, "I am not surprised by your inability to see this, Mr. Burns, considering your partisan affiliation with the figures such as Ms. Weasley."

Burns retained his calm expression and replied, "I believe Ms. Weasley is a member of the Modernist party, not Wizarding Labour, is that correct Ms. Weasley?"

"Er, yes," Rose said, and Davis scoffed.

"A splinter off of Wizarding Labour, and you've always been a loyalist to her mother—"

"We will have order, Mr. Davis," Burns said sternly. "I would like to remind you that I was already elected to office before her mother had received her Hogwarts letter and I will not have my impartiality questioned without reason. That is all, Mr. Davis." Davis nodded curtly and left the courtroom, causing a stir of whispers throughout the Wizengamot. Burns called order again and said, "The Wizengamot recognizes the first witness for the defence, Ms. Minerva Isobel McGonagall." The Headmistress stood and entered the center of the courtroom, nodding at Rose as she stood in front of Burns. "Ms. McGonagall, please describe Ms. Weasley's actions that brought the charges against her."

"Ms. Weasley wrote and published essays denouncing certain members of the Upper Chamber of the Wizengamot, and former Minister Weasley."

"You were aware of her publications?"

"Yes, I was."

"And you did not attempt to persuade Ms. Weasley to stop publishing her views?"

"No, of course I didn't."

"And why is that?"

"Because I did not believe it to be a criminal offense in the least. In fact, I believe it was absolutely necessary."

"Necessary?"

"Yes." McGonagall looked past Burns up to the seats filled with the Lower Chamber representatives of the Wizengamot. "If elected representatives are behaving corruptly, it is necessary for citizens privy to that information to divulge it to the public."

"You don't believe that this constitutes criminal libel?"

"No," McGonagall said, still addressing the entirety of the chamber. "There was no intent to damage anyone's reputation beyond presenting factual evidence against their constructed image of honesty." She stood up straighter and said, "Ms. Weasley is a brilliant and passionate witch, and did not do anything remotely deserving of hindering her education. This sentence would be a disgrace to this body."

"Thank you, Ms. McGonagall." The headmistress walked back to her seat and Burns spoke again. "The Wizengamot recognizes the final witness for the defence, Mr. Darius Jacob Kendall." Kendall stood again and entered the court floor. "Mr. Kendall, as an expert on magical law, do you believe that Ms. Weasley has broken the law?"

"No," he said. "There is no evidence to suggest libel and defamation. There is a distinct difference that I firmly believe the representatives of the Wizengamot will be able to discern. Journalists, as of the enactment of restrictions on the definition of defamation in 2013 by this body, are protected from persecution over statements that are the honest opinion of the author and are published in the public interest. Under these restrictions, Ms. Weasley stated an honest political opinion, factually based, with the intent of helping the public determine which representatives were fit to represent them. By these standards," he stated, "the Wizengamot has no right to punish Ms. Weasley. Additionally, I would like to state that Minister Weasley's attempt to add to Mr. Prince's power allowing him to press charges that are grounds for expulsion is a thinly veiled political play to remove opposition of his administration from the public eye and should not be tolerated by this body of justice. If we are to claim to be a just democracy, we cannot infringe upon Ms. Weasley's freedom of speech to further an individual's political agenda and allow corruption to overrule the ideals we claim to uphold."

"Thank you, Mr. Kendall," Burns said loudly, over the excited stirrings in the Wizengamot. The reporters were speaking rapidly into their radio sets and writing furiously, and the representatives were talking amongst themselves as well. Mr. Burns had to call order twice before the room quieted. "The Wizengamot will now vote…those in favor of expulsion?" About ten or twelve representatives stood, mostly sitting together on one side of the room, stood and Burns nodded at them as the scribe wrote quickly on the parchment in front of her a total. "Those opposed?" More than twice the amount of representatives as before, including Burns, stood and Burns smiled a little. "Cleared of all charges."

Rose couldn't help grinning as she hurried over to the defence's side, and noticed Prince leave the courtroom soon after the announcement. "Miss Weasley, good to see you again," McGonagall said.

"You, too, Professor," she said, smiling. "Thank you for doing this."

"Of course. This is Mr. Darius Kendall."

"Hello, sir, thank you," Rose said, shaking the man's hand. He smiled.

"It's no trouble at all, Miss Weasley, I was glad to help."

"Course he was, he got on the ticket a year early," John said. Kendall waved him off.

"No, no, nothing like that. I simply appreciate freedom of the press," he said, chuckling. "At least that which is justified."

"Well, thank you anyway," Rose said. "I'd vote for you if I could."

Kendall laughed. "Thank you."

"So will most of the press core, from the look of it," John said, glancing at the press, who did indeed seem to be quite excited by Kendall's speech and the result of the hearing. "Davis doesn't stand a chance after his showing."

"Well, I certainly hope so," Kendall said. "I should be getting back to the office, though; I'll see you later on, John. Until the next time, Miss Weasley." Kendall stood up and left the courtroom, a few of the press trailing after him shouting questions. McGonagall turned to Rose.

"Come with me, Miss Weasley; your things have been packed by your parents and will be returned to the castle shortly. We'll be arriving through the Floo network in my office."

"Sure," Rose said, and smiled at John. "Goodbye, John, thanks for everything."

"Happy to help," he said, smiling. "I'm sure I'll see you again, Rose." Rose nodded and followed the Headmistress out of the courtroom, who steered her away from the reporters. Her father was waiting outside, looking nervous, and she smiled at him.

He hugged her and sighed in relief. "Thank Merlin. I knew it, of course, I knew they'd let you off." He pulled away and said, "I suppose you're going back to school now?"

"Yes," Rose said, "Is Mum—"

"I'm sorry, I don't think you'll be able to see her," he said. "She'll write to you, I'm sure. And you'll be home in a couple months, I guess." He turned to McGonagall. "Thanks so much, Professor."

"You're welcome, Mr. Weasley… I will be visiting soon to discuss the coming months."

"Right. Hermione told me," her dad said, nodding. "I'll see you then."

"Yes. Come, Miss Weasley." McGonagall walked further down the hall and Rose said goodbye again to her father before following the headmistress down the hallway to the next fireplace. She entered the flames along with McGonagall, who called out, "Hogwarts." Within seconds, they were in the headmistress's office and she cast a spell removing the fireplace's Floo network position once they had exited. "I expect you'll want to return to your friends. The Hogsmeade trip was yesterday, so I expect they will be waiting in the common room. And I will expect you tonight, Miss Weasley. We have more memories to be seen in the Pensieve."

"Okay. Thank you Professor," she said, and left the office, walking through the castle halls ignoring the whispers and stares of the other students she passed by. She reached the Fat Lady before realizing she didn't know the password anymore. "Won't you just tell me? I've been home, I never knew what the password was this week."

"No exceptions," the Fat Lady said indignantly. "I'm not responsible for your forgetfulness."

"Did you not hear me?" Rose replied, getting angry. "I was at the Ministry because Prince tried to expel me!"

"That isn't my problem," she said haughtily. Rose groaned and slumped against the wall near the portrait, waiting for a Gryffindor to appear. It was a few minutes before she heard footsteps and stood up quickly before she saw who was approaching. Of course.

"So they let you off?" Scorpius asked, reaching the portrait and stopping a few feet in front of her.

"Obviously," she muttered. "I don't know the new password."

"Oh, er, tempest," he called out to the Fat Lady, who swung open, shaking her head.

"That's a bit ominous," Rose said uneasily.

"It's been pouring for days, and darker clouds are gathering. People have actually started hanging around the dungeons, just in case." Scorpius cleared his throat. "After you."

"Whatever," Rose sighed, and walked into the common room, trying to ignore the fact that they were literally talking about the weather. Al, Hugo, and James, sitting near the door, jumped up immediately.

"Rosie! I told Al you'd be fine, but he didn't listen to me!" James said, grinning, and hugged her while Rose stood in mild shock.

"I believed him!" Al insisted.

"Maybe after WWN broadcasted the bloody thing," Hugo muttered, and his cousin elbowed him, embarrassed.

"So you heard it?" Rose asked.

"Yeah," James said. "Mr. Jordan was all but endorsing that Kendall bloke by the end."

"Way better than Davis, at any rate," Al said. "And we know who Kendall will get rid of the minute he's in office."

"Don't get too excited, most of the old people are Conservatives, and you know… we live a long time, wizards," James warned. "They might still be a majority."

"Come on, don't be depressing," Al said. "Let's go celebrate. The kitchens'll be making lunch, we can get some pudding before they start serving down there. I reckon you'll want to avoid the Great Hall today anyway, too many questions, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Rose said.

"Come on, then." She started to follow, and noticed Scorpius hanging back. Al seemed to notice too and said, "Hey, Scorpius, coming?"

James made a face and Scorpius shook his head, looking at Rose as if to judge her reaction. "No, I think I'll stay here."

"…Okay, mate," Al said, glancing at the both of them before leading the way out of the common room.

Rose hesitated before calling after them, "I'll follow you in a second." They left the common room and Rose turned to Scorpius. "What are you doing?"

"What, Weasley?" Scorpius asked, avoiding her gaze.

"You know what! Look at me," she demanded, and he turned back to her, looking down to look her in the eye. "Look… I don't know what's gotten into you, but I just…" Rose looked down at her feet and said, "What did you mean when you said you couldn't…do that?"

"I meant… nothing, whatever," Scorpius said. "What do you care?"

"I don't," Rose said, snapping her head up again to look at him. "I don't care what we… do. It doesn't matter."

"Sure it doesn't," Scorpius said, smirking. "You wouldn't be talking to me right now if it didn't bother you."

"It doesn't bother me," Rose lied. "I don't think about you all that much, Malfoy, despite what you seem to think."

"Yes you do," he said. "If you don't, why are you here?"

"I…" Rose looked around and noticed for the first time the large amount of people around them and lowered her voice even more. "I don't really know."

He seemed to be deep in thought for a while before he said, "I'll be in the Astronomy tower at eleven tonight. We can talk. Or… not." He walked away and Rose turned around, leaving the common room. She was furious at his refusal to tell her what he was thinking. But she knew she would go. She also knew they probably wouldn't talk.


	18. The Library

**Hi guys! Thanks so much for reading, reviews are always welcome! Enjoy! -Kelly**

CHAPTER 18

THE LIBRARY

March 21, 2022

Dear Rose,

Hey, are you doing all right? I'm glad you weren't expelled, but you do realize the international media won't shut up about you and your movement, right? The US is watching your election, at least. We listened to that Kendall guy's speech at your hearing in Government, and student groups all over Salem either want to kill you or make you the President of MACUSA. Ilvermorny's more on the 'kill you' side, but they've always been the snobs. Anyway, Kendall's right about the whole international division thing. Congress is debating some bill that will completely abolish Rappaport altogether; it's technically unconstitutional at this point but it's still lingering in old state legislation. If it passes, though, we'll be technically allowed to talk to Muggles about magic, so I'm not sure how well that will go for the International Statute. Our International Magical Office of Law is pushing our Confederation reps to support it and get support from the other nations, but it's not going too well. Germany and Egypt have already backed the US but Britain's pushing back and so is Italy. Apparently the Medicis don't want it, and what they say goes over there. Maybe Scorpius knows them… I'm kidding, but by the way, what's been going on with him? You're probably studying a lot, so don't let that or Malfoy stress you out; good luck on your OWLs, we've got our Level 5 WOMBATs next week so I understand. Write back as soon as you can, if you aren't kidnapped by Conservative radicals or something.

Maggie

29 March 2022

Dear Maggie,

I'm fine, though all that political stuff is mad. I had no idea America cared that much about our election, though I guess you probably don't usually. Kendall's polling much higher than Davis, so I don't think we have much to worry about. I passed on the Confederation information to Bella and the Union, so I think they'll start playing that to sway public opinion; we're also assuming Kendall will put new representatives on the Confederation if he's elected so your reps might not have to worry after a month or so. I asked Scorpius if he knew the Medicis and he made a face so I have no idea if he does or not but he probably isn't going to help us. About Scorpius… so I know you told me to talk to him but I just couldn't, and we've, er, made the same mistake a couple more times since I got back. Sorry. He's been acting odd about it, though, but every time I ask him about it he won't tell me anything. I'm so sick of trying to understand him. And I hate that I care so much. I don't know, it's just been weird here. I told Lucy about the student groups and she says if you know any way the Army could talk to them that'd be brilliant. I've heard WOMBAT is awful, so don't feel rushed to write back, but thanks about the OWLs. I've no idea why no one around me seems to care about them yet, they're only in three weeks. Write back soon!

Rose

The storms didn't quiet before April had come; in fact, they simply got worse, and there was no sign of them ever letting up. Most of the students stayed largely indoors, and since Quidditch had been cancelled for the rest of the season weeks ago, there was no reason for anyone to brave the storms except for Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Neville and Hagrid seemed to be looking for excuses to keep everyone under cover of the greenhouses or at least the trees, but the torrential downpours weren't completely avoided by this strategy and students generally entered the castle after these classes annoyed and wet. Rose felt a little uneasy about the storms, thinking they must have something to do with whatever was causing the ghost disappearances and her waking nightmare, but she didn't investigate further if only to avoid dealing with it until after OWLs. Testing stress had overtaken the fifth and seventh year once April began, and there was a significant increase in Roxanne's Wheezes resale profit through students feigning illness to gain study time. Rose didn't see the point in missing more class only to study, especially after her prolonged absence, so she attended her classes even though sometimes there were only about ten students in the classroom. Al, in particular, had come down with a peculiar illness the week before the OWLs that involved vomiting at nine in the morning and sequestering himself in his room with all his books for the rest of the day. He was always miraculously better by dinner. Rose knew the teachers must have some idea of what was happening, but seemed rather resigned to it; she guessed, correctly according to Roxanne, that this happened every year.

Rose was scheduled to meet with Professor Rudomin during study hall on the Wednesday leading up to the OWLs to choose her classes for the next year, leaving a very indignant Arya to work on Switching Spells with Al. Rose wasn't upset about this; she had been trying to find a way to talk to Rudomin for weeks now, ever since McGonagall had talked about meeting with her father about next year at the hearing, and this was a perfect opportunity. She knocked on the Professor's office door, down the corridor leading to the NEWT Defence classroom, and it unlocked itself and swung open as Rudomin cleared several rolls of parchment from his desk. "Rose," he said, somewhat cheerfully. "Sit."

Rose sat down, quietly, in front of the professor's desk and he pulled out a folder from his desk that appeared to be hers. "So, what careers have you been thinking about, Rose?"

"Er, I used to want to be a Healer, but I'm not sure anymore. I think I might want to do something with government or magical law?"

Rudomin laughed. "Well I would think so. I can give you the information for a Ministry starting position and the Healer training program, but you'll have to choose classes soon."

"Right, okay," she said. Rudomin pulled out packets from the folder and looked through them.

"So for Healing you'll need five NEWTs, in whatever areas you'd like, but they have to include Herbology and Potions. You'll need an Acceptable or above in Herbology, and I see Professor Longbottom's been marking you mostly O's for the last five years, that's obviously very good… though you seem to have had some trouble this year, you're currently at an E, though it's a high one."

"Er, yes, I think it's just how much I've been absent," Rose said awkwardly, and Rudomin nodded.

"All right, well, I'm sure you're be perfectly fine for the OWL. Potions has been very good over the years, despite the instability. So I wouldn't worry about achieving the proper requirements if you choose that path. Now, about the Ministry position." Rudomin shuffled the papers around until he arrived at the right one. "So, for a Ministry job you'll need 5 NEWTs as well, and for Law you'll need one of them to be in Defence Against the Dark Arts. I'd also suggest Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions, and then some elective might be a strong choice if it specializes in your area."

"Like Muggle Studies?" Rose asked.

"Yes, that would be a good idea. Your grades in all those classes are good, Defence is excellent by the way. Professor McGonagall does not accept anything below an E, though you seem to have had an O your whole time at Hogwarts… I'd work on Charms to make sure you get an O, just to stand out amongst their applicants. And of course, NEWT-level electives become available, so I'd suggest adding Government to your schedule if you choose the Ministry option, and Healing otherwise. Magical Theory seems like a good choice for you no matter what you're intending to enter into. It fits well with Transfiguration and Charms. So that will fill your schedule, you won't have time for Runes or Arithmancy, I'm afraid."

"That's all right," Rose said. "Er, could I take those packets?"

"Of course, they're for you to weigh your options." Rudomin handed her the information packets for both and smiled. "Thank Merlin your grades are good, I just spent ten minutes trying to gently tell someone else they can't possibly be an Auror with their marks. No one listens until it's too late. Any other questions?"

Rose hesitated before asking, "The Headmistress told my dad they were going to talk about next year, do you know what she meant by that?" Rudomin stopped smiling and looked surprised.

"Have you recently taken up the hobby of knowing about everything you aren't supposed to or I have I just not noticed until this term?" he asked.

"…Probably the latter, honestly," Rose said, and he sighed.

"I'm sorry, Rose, I can't tell you. It's highly confidential Auror business."

"But neither of you are Aurors," Rose argued.

"I was, before I taught here," Rudomin said hesitantly. "But that isn't the point. Professor McGonagall will tell you when the time is right."

"Is it about Arya?"

"No," Rudomin said, "Arya is fine. You're doing very well helping her."

"Well, that's brilliant, but what about her vision?"

"We're taking the necessary precautions," Rudomin said. Rose was very disappointed; he sounded like the other professors. She had thought he'd tell her more.

"Is it about the prophecy?" she asked, and Rudomin jumped a little.

"…I can't tell you anything," he repeated. "Try to focus on the OWLs and your classes. You don't need to know about this yet."

"We've been told that before, and then we end up facing Nott or someone else who wants to kill us," Rose said indignantly and Rudomin looked conflicted.

"I made a promise to McGonagall. …I understand, Rose, really, I do. I can come and teach more Defence at one of your meetings, when do you meet next?"

"…No, thanks, we've already got Neville," Rose said quietly. "Thanks for the packets." She left Rudomin's office before he could say anything else, and returned to Gryffindor Tower feeling even more frustrated than before. She quickly resolved that she was going to do something about whatever was coming for them, whatever McGonagall and Rudomin thought about it. She marched over to where Al and Scorpius were sitting playing chess and said loudly, "I want to go to the library tonight and find out for sure what's making the ghosts disappear."

Al looked up at her, affronted. "The OWLs are in five days!"

"You're playing chess."

"It relieves stress," he said. "That doesn't."

Rose rolled her eyes, pulling up a chair to their table. "You've been out 'sick' for days, now, Al, I'm sure you're fine. But Rudomin won't tell me anything, and McGonagall told me she thought it was a hag or something. I'm going to find out for sure. We need to go back and check Hogwarts: a History."

"Tonight? Can't it wait until morning, Weasley?" Scorpius groaned. "I do like to sleep."

"I'm not waiting any longer," Rose said firmly, ignoring her mind's usual debilitating response to Scorpius's presence. "And I need your Cloak, Al, so we need to do this together."

Al sighed. "Fine. Tonight."

That night, she snuck back down to the common room and found the two of them waiting by the portrait hole. They still looked as if they were slightly afraid of her, but she didn't care; at this point, all she wanted was to figure out what was going on and how they could stop it. The trip to the library was a little treacherous, as they barely avoided Peeves's notice and a patrolling professor on the third floor. When they got there, however, Rose threw the Cloak off of her quickly and set to work finding the book again. It didn't take very long, and she brought it over to the table as Al went over to the doorway. "I should probably watch for that thing again."

"Good idea," Scorpius said before Rose could protest about Scorpius watching instead. She sat down at the table and flipped to the Creatures section of the book. She found a section marked Hags before long and began to read.

 _Hags of Hogwarts_

 _Reports of hags haunting the Hogwarts grounds have fluctuated from century to century, though there have always been some evidence as to their presence. There are many different types that have been recorded as present on the grounds, though perhaps the most commonly seen is the Cailleach. This creature, also called the 'storm hag', manifests its power through the creation of powerful tempests and haunting of the grounds. The hag's natural enemy is other supernatural creatures, and is often unhappy at Hogwarts, home to so many of its rivals. There have been no recorded violent incidents involving the hag at the school; however—_

Rose's reading was interrupted by a loud noise outside and she jumped as she looked up. Scorpius raised an eyebrow.

"Sounded like Peeves. Relax."

"Or a hag."

He rolled his eyes. "Peeves knocks things over. We know he's somewhere around here. It's fine, Weasley."

"…Okay, fine." Rose continued to stare at the passage. "I think this is it."

"Seems like it. Anything about killing it?"

"Not that I can see." Rose sighed. "We'll have to go into the Restricted section for that. Come on." Scorpius didn't move, and Rose looked at him expectantly, trying not to really see him or the voice in the back of her head that wanted her to kiss him might take over. "Come _on,_ Malfoy."

"Do you really not think about me at all?" he asked, and Rose felt a jolt go through her body that made it even more difficult to control herself. "Because I'm not sure I believe that."

"Why? I told you, I don't," she insisted.

"Again, hard to believe," he said. "Especially when you actually came to the tower that night."

"It didn't mean anything," Rose snapped.

"Like hell it didn't," Scorpius said. "There's no way you can say you have no feelings for me."

"I don't!" Rose told him, though she knew her face must be turning red. He smirked a little and she felt the same feeling in her stomach she got the last few times she'd been alone with him. Before long, he had gotten up from his chair and kissed her, and she stopped breathing for a second before responding, despite everything her logical brain was telling her. He pulled away seconds later and Rose felt herself blushing even harder.

"You can't deny that was-"

"That's nothing," she said, though she wasn't sure she was very convincing. "And it needs to stop happening."

He slumped back into his seat, looking slightly defeated but still annoyingly righteous. "I know," he said, much more quietly. "I know that."

"Well," Rose said after a moment, "it'll stop happening, then. Let's just agree to stop. It's bad for us, it's bad for everyone."

"Fine," Scorpius muttered. Rose felt furious.

"Oh, now you're mad? Just because I finally tried to do something about it?"

"I'm only mad that you're so bloody objective about it," he said hotly, and Rose fumed.

"Would you prefer if I was crying or something?" she asked. "Is that the reaction you think you elicit, Malfoy? Were the other girls so enamored that they cried when they ended it?"

" _I_ ended it with April, and that's not the bloody point," Scorpius said. "And of course they didn't react like that, but—"

"But what?"

"You aren't—it's not like that."

"Of course it is!" Rose hissed. "Actually, it's less than that, Malfoy. We aren't anything, we just keep snogging and I'm trying to stop it from happening again."

"Well, I'm definitely not about to, Weasley, congratulations," he snapped. "You're so damn strident, I feel sorry for Tanner and Allan."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose all but shrieked, and Al appeared quickly with the Cloak looking furious.

"I hear footsteps, no doubt because of you two. I don't know what the hell you were shouting about, but I hope it was worth it. Get under the Cloak and try not to give us away by killing each other, all right?" Al threw the Cloak over the three of them and walked firmly between them as they snuck out of the library before Filch hobbled in, looking downright murderous. They made it back to Gryffindor Tower and Scorpius was the first one out from under the Cloak.

"Good night," he muttered as he stalked up the boys' stairs, and Al looked at Rose.

"What the hell did you say to him?"

"Nothing he didn't deserve," Rose muttered, and Al shook his head.

"I hate this, you know that?" he said, and Rose sighed.

"Sorry."

"Did you at least find out what it is?" he asked. Rose nodded.

"Yes. Something called a storm hag. We don't know how to stop it, we need to look in the Restricted section."

"I'll look in the Restricted section," Al corrected her. "You two aren't going anywhere together with my Cloak."

"Fine," Rose muttered. "You'd better go to sleep, or study. You need an E in Transfiguration to continue and if you want to be an Auror—"

"I know, I know," Al said. "Good night."

"Night, Al." Al walked upstairs and Rose did the same, hoping that she wouldn't be woken in the night with a hag at the bottom of her bed. She definitely didn't want to lie in bed thinking about what had happened, so she took out her Charms textbook and studied until she finally drifted off to sleep.


	19. Ordinary Wizarding Levels

**Hi everyone! Thanks so much for reading! I know this one's a little short but there'll probably be another chapter up today. Please review! -Kelly :)**

CHAPTER 19

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVELS

The first OWL exam was Transfiguration, on Monday morning at 9:00. Rose was nervous, despite her near constant studying for the last several weeks, and walked in with shaking hands. Al was similarly nervous, though he was annoyed at her reaction. "You're much more prepared than me. I might die," he told her. Rose had to admit he had a point, but she still had the thought that this one test to a certain extent determined a lot of her future. The written exam went fairly well, though Rose in her nervousness spent two whole minutes trying to remember the exact variables of the Transfiguration formula. Though she was confident she had remembered it eventually, she was worried that it had cost her time and made her rush a little at the end. Next they went on to the practical, being held in the Great Hall, all the tables having been replaced with rows upon rows of desks and examiners standing in front of each one. Rose's examiner was an elderly woman who didn't seem to know who she was, to Rose's relief. The woman watched as Rose turned a teacup into a rat, and vanished a cushion. She prompted her with several concepts and spells until she was finally told she could go. Rose felt she had done well, but she was rather worried for the Herbology exam that afternoon given her current grade. She was fine for the written and only thought she made a couple of mistakes in the practical, though her examiner seemed like he thought giving exams was the last thing he wanted to be doing. The day's exams had a long break after Herbology until Astronomy was due to test at ten o'clock that night, and Rose retreated into the Great Hall along with the other fifth years to study. She sat down next to Al, who was playing chess with Scorpius, and Al swore as Scorpius cornered his bishop with a knight.

"How do you think you did?" Rose asked.

"Transfiguration wasn't that bad, actually," Al said. "Herbology made me want to gouge my eyes out, but it's over."

"Mine were fine," Scorpius said. "You, Weasley?"

"Well, don't ask her, she'll just make us feel bad about ourselves," Al muttered. "Check."

Scorpius escaped the check almost immediately and looked up at Rose. "I assume you didn't have any trouble, then?"

"No," Rose said. "They were both perfectly fine."

"Well, good, then," he said, and looked back down at the chess board without saying anything else. Rose looked away, too, feeling awkward. They'd been distant, to say the least, since the night at the library, and Rose didn't think she was ever going to have a normal conversation with him again at this point. He'd either act oddly or say something awful, and Rose didn't want to care anymore, but she had to admit that she did.

"Which tests are tomorrow?" Al asked, looking as though he was also uncomfortable with the tension in the air.

"Er, Defence and Charms," Rose told him. Al's face lit up.

"Brilliant, I'll survive tomorrow then at least. Potions and History of Magic, though…" he shuddered and returned to the chess game. "Knight to C3," he said.

"Oh, bloody hell, Al," Scorpius muttered as the knight destroyed one of his rooks. "Queen to C3. And check." Scorpius's revenge was swift and brought his queen much too close to Al's king for comfort.

"King to B5," he said nervously, and the king slowly moved over one piece, but Scorpius shook his head.

"Checkmate," he declared, moving the queen one more piece, and Al swore again as the queen took his king. "Good game, though."

"Yeah," he muttered as the pieces began to put themselves back together. "And then electives on Thursday, too… this is mad."

"It'd be better if it wasn't all in one week," Rose agreed. "I feel like I've been hyperventilating since eight this morning."

"Hey, Al," Scorpius said suddenly. "Patil's here."

Al's eyes widened. "What? Why? She isn't supposed to be—she's a fourth year…"

"Must have a free period," he said, shrugging. "Look, she's right over there." Al looked behind him and Rose did, too, following his gaze to see the Ravenclaw girl leaning against her House's table, talking to some of the fifth years. "Why don't you go talk to her?"

"Are you mad?" he asked. "She's with her friends, they're terrifying."

Rose rolled her eyes and said, "You've been talking about her since Christmas, go on."

"You're one to talk," Al snorted. "And where, may we ask, is a certain Hufflepuff you took to the Christmas dance?"

"I… that's different," Rose said, feeling her face growing red.

"How?" Al asked. "You're not seeing anyone else. You just haven't talked to him."

"Yeah, Weasley, why is that?" Scorpius asked, smirking. Rose narrowed her eyes and restrained herself from hexing him.

"Shut it," she muttered, and Al took a deep breath.

"You know, I'm going to do it! I'm going to talk to her." He got up and walked quickly over to the Ravenclaw table. Scorpius and Rose watched as he said something they couldn't hear. Prathna's friends started to whisper at the table but she seemed to be smiling at Al. She said something and Al actually laughed. Rose was impressed. The students from the last afternoon class began filing into the Hall and James sat down next to them.

"You look distracted, Rosie," he commented.

"Al," Rose said, nodding at the Ravenclaw table. James looked startled.

"Is he talking to a girl?"

"Clearly," Scorpius said under his breath, and James completely ignored him.

"Wow. Maybe he'll be okay without me after all." Al returned to the table and slid into his seat excitedly.

"We're going down to the lake before the Astronomy OWL."

"I'm impressed," James said. "The Hogsmeade with Ariana incident seems like it was only yesterday."

"Oh, shut up, James."

Alice approached the table, holding a newspaper. "The lovely Alice Longbottom," James said, turning around to look up at her from the bench, grinning. "What can we do for you?"

"For starters, you could stop flirting, Potter," Alice said, with the slightest hint of a smile. "Hannah wouldn't like it."

"Hannah doesn't get to care anymore," James said.

"Really?" Alice asked, raising her eyebrows. "I thought—"

"We ended things two weeks ago. I thought you knew," he said. "I wouldn't flirt with you if I was taken."

"Didn't stop you before, James," Alice sighed.

"I'm a different man now, Alice," he said. "I was young and stupid then. And a little drunk."

Alice coughed, starting to blush a little. "Yes, well. I came to let you all know that the Resurrection Stone's been stolen from the Ministry."

"What?" Rose asked. "When?"

"Last night, apparently," Alice said. "I don't get the Prophet, but I got this off my sister just now. You lot had all that business with the Stone, so…"

"Do we know it was Nott?" James asked.

"Of course it was Nott," Al said. "Who else wants the Stone?"

"The Order of the Cobra," Rose said quietly, "but Nott makes the most sense. He's been staging Azkaban breakouts lately. We ought to tell McGonagall."

"I just got a date," Al muttered. "Honestly…"

"You know, Al, that's not exactly the top of the list of my priorities," Rose snapped. "We've all got OWLs, no one's exactly looking forward to it, but Nott's probably heading here right now and—"

"For Merlin's sake, I'll tell her," Scorpius said. "Can I have that, please?" Alice gave him the newspaper and he stalked away from the table.

"Someone's brooding more than usual," James said. "You're welcome to sit down, Alice, I don't think Malfoy's coming back." Alice sat in Scorpius's place after a moment's hesitation and dinner soon appeared in front of them. "Plans tonight?" James continued. "We could go walking as well."

Alice rolled her eyes. "I don't think so, Potter."

"Got a reason this time, or are you just proud?" Alice was trying not to smile and James shrugged before beginning to eat. Rose ate in relative silence, worried about the new revelation. If Nott was coming…

Scorpius didn't return from McGonagall's office before dinner, so Rose looked in the library for any more information on these hags that she could find, though she didn't make much of any progress before it was ten o'clock and she had to find Al for their curfew duties. He showed up to their post with a star chart spread out in front of him, looking very determined. "Rose! Apparently the test is mostly filling in a star chart, I've got one here."

Rose took one look at it and sighed, "Al, that's for winter." Al swore and shoved the chart into his bag.

"Of course," he muttered. "What planet's ruling right now?"

"Er, Mercury will be when we take the test," Rose said. "But there are loads of other factors…"

"I know, I know, I'm just trying to get the general ideas down so I can make up the rest intelligently." Rose rolled her eyes as he pulled out the Astronomy textbook and flipped through the pages far too quickly to be actually reading much.

Rose decided to try not to think about the test at all, as she had studied for weeks already, and said, "So how was it? With Prathna?"

"Huh? Oh, it was fine, yeah," Al said. "Apparently she lives in Dublin, so don't know how I'll see her for the next three months, though. Might be a problem."

"I suppose," Rose agreed. "Just for future reference, Dominic isn't anything we ever need to talk about again."

"Gladly," Al said. "I never want to think about that git again. Nearly knocked me off my broom last month, and seemed to think it was funny, too." He shifted a little and asked, "So are you and Scorpius still having a row? Because this is getting tiring."

"I don't know," Rose sighed. "Maybe we won't be when he stops being horrible."

"He's honestly not any different than he was when you two were friends, Rose. Except when you're around, and most of the time then he's only defending himself."

"So you think it's my fault that he's behaving like a complete child just because—"

"Whoa, slow down," Al said, looking nervous. "I only meant that I don't think he's even mad at you anymore. I think you two just need to talk."

"Well, if we could ever talk without him insulting me, I would," Rose said. Just then, they heard footsteps running down the corridor and before they could really react, Professor Rudomin had appeared at the end of the corridor and was rushing towards them.

"Rose, Al, get back to the tower and make sure no one leaves," Rudomin said. "We'll let you know when it's safe again."

"Is it Nott?" Rose asked. Rudomin shook his head.

"No. Another ghost attack. Moaning Myrtle, found in her bathroom… well, go on."

"What about the Astronomy OWL?" Al asked.

Rudomin looked astounded that Al would ask such a question and said, "Er… well I assume it will be rescheduled…"

"Come on, Al," Rose hissed, and her cousin followed her back to the tower as quickly as she could go. As soon as they had gotten inside, James was there in front of them.

"All right, honestly, what do you two know about this? I'm guessing it has something to do with you," he said.

"…We think they're hags," Rose said. "But we don't know how to get rid of them."

"Hags?" James asked. "Bloody hell, I can't have one year..." He walked back over to where Alice and Gemma were standing talking to several frightened first years and Rose slumped into one of the armchairs near the portrait hole. Al sat across from her and the House waited for a tense forty-five minutes or so before Rudomin appeared again.

"We've declared it safe again, but mind you, it is nearly curfew," he told them. "Thank you to all of you for staying calm. And fifth years, the exam is still happening. They'll be expecting you in fifteen minutes." He retreated back through the portrait hole and Al swore loudly as they stood.

"Oh, sure, why not have another exam, we've only been in lockdown for the last hour!" he exclaimed as they shuffled out of the common room along with the rest of the Gryffindors in their year. A few of them seemed to agree with Al. Rose was too lost in her thoughts. She had no idea why they had declared it safe; there was no way to tell whether or not the hags were still in the castle, and she suspected they were only trying to keep the students calm. At any rate, she was almost glad to have the test to force her to think about something else. She had almost resolved not to ask any more questions that night when she saw Scorpius walking with Declan and had to stop him.

"What did McGonagall say?" she asked abruptly, and Scorpius smiled with a pained expression.

"Or hello, that works too," he muttered. "Er, not much. She said she didn't know where Nott was, and that we shouldn't jump to conclusions; I think she's just trying to keep the peace."

"Like she did with letting us out to take this exam," Rose said.

"Yeah, I suppose. I don't know. She said she'd tell the Aurors guarding the school that we're concerned, but also that Al's dad was already working on it. Whatever that means."

"Well, of course the Auror office is involved, but how exactly? How did the Stone even get taken?"

"I don't know," Scorpius said darkly, "but it sounds like there must have been someone on the inside. At least, that's what I think."

"Maybe," Rose said. They had reached the Astronomy tower, and she forced herself to pick an empty desk and star chart far away from Scorpius. She wouldn't have been able to focus otherwise, though she could barely admit that even to herself.


	20. Padfoot and Wormtail

**Hi guys! Here's the next chapter! I'm planning to finish this book by July, so there'll be plenty more updates this week. Thanks for reading! -Kelly :)**

CHAPTER 20

PADFOOT AND WORMTAIL

Rose was in the library on Sunday evening two weeks later, waiting for her appointment with McGonagall and looking through books on magical creatures to find anything about storm hags, when Lucy ran up to her, clutching a newspaper. "Have you seen this?" she exclaimed, and thrust the paper into her hands. The front page headline read loudly:

 **KENDALL WINS MINISTERIAL RACE**

 _By Catherine Warbeck, Senior Political Correspondent_

 _May 15, 2022_

Rose read the story quickly as Lucy sat excitedly next to her.

 _At 11:00 p.m. last night, the last votes were counted in the election for the new Minister for Magic. Darius Kendall, former head of the International Magical Office of Law, won the general vote by 8 percent, the final total coming to 53 to 45 percent. Mr. Everett Davis made his concession speech last night following the final total. Davis thanked his supporters and was quoted as saying, "I do not believe that the public will continue to allow this destruction of Wizarding values." Mr. Davis is expected to be removed from his position by Mr. Kendall following Kendall's inauguration which has been scheduled for June 1. The Progressive Union of Wizards for Muggle-Wizard Equality, which had earlier endorsed Mr. Kendall, has released a statement saying they were "extremely happy" with the results of the election, and announced they will be attending the inauguration in support. It is unknown whether Rose or Lucy Weasley, leaders of the student Modernist movement, will be in attendance at this time, and the Daily Prophet has not received a statement from either of them._

"Well? Will we?" Lucy asked, and Rose shook her head.

"Sorry. I'm already on thin ice. I should stay here, anyway; we're close to figuring out how to stop the ghost attacks."

"Well, keep working on that. I'd like Osric back, the Ravenclaw common room political debates are in need of some perspective, there are kids who constantly try to minimize the Wizarding Wars, it's appalling."

"I'll let you know," Rose said, and Lucy smiled.

"All right. I should go, then, or I might be persuaded to study for finals."

Rose rolled her eyes. "…James is in the dungeons helping Peeves set traps outside the Slytherin common room."

"Brilliant, thanks," she said, and left the library quickly. Rose returned to poring over the books in front of her until it was nine o'clock and she started to walk to the headmistress's office.

"Miss Weasley," McGonagall said when she entered. "Come over to the Pensieve, we have a memory tonight."

"You said we were almost finished with the first war, right, Professor?" Rose asked and McGonagall nodded.

"Yes. In fact, tonight we will watch the end of the War."

"You mean James and Lily's death?" Rose asked.

McGonagall nodded. "Yes, and the aftermath. This memory is from Sirius Black, retrieved after he escaped from Azkaban." McGonagall poured the memory in, a long, dark-looking strand flowing into the bowl. Rose took a deep breath and looked into the Pensieve. The memory took shape as they fell down into the same house Rose had seen many times before as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius was sitting at the table the other Order meetings had been, as far as Rose could tell, and Remus walked in from the sitting room silently. Sirius looked concerned and said, "What is it?" Remus didn't respond, but leaned against the table for support, and Sirius jumped out of his seat and walked over to him. "What's wrong, Moony?"

"It's James and Lily, they're… he found them," Remus said, at almost a whisper. Sirius's face fell and he was silent for several seconds. Then he backed up slowly and Rose saw his right hand twitch towards the wand in his pocket.

"When did he tell you?" Sirius said flatly. Remus looked startled and stared at him, confused.

"What?"

"When did Peter tell you where they were?"

"Sirius, he didn't!" Remus said. "I don't understand what you're trying to say."

"Please, Remus, don't lie to me," Sirius said, sounding strained. "It had to have been—"

"I didn't betray them! I would never!" Remus exclaimed. "Sirius—" he started to move towards him and Sirius pulled out his wand quickly. Remus stepped back, looking hurt. "Really? Don't you trust me?"

"I can't be sure anymore," Sirius said. "I just can't."

"Not even me?" Remus asked, sounding desperate. "Sirius, you know I would never betray them, I swear to God, I wouldn't! And I would never hurt you, you know that. Please put the wand down."

"You first," Sirius said, and Remus threw his wand on the ground. Sirius muttered, " _Accio_." The wand flew into his other hand and he threw it across the room before he lowered his own. "Remus, I want to believe you, I do. I just don't know… I have to be sure." He started toward the door and Remus ran after him into the entrance hall.

"Where are you going?" Remus asked.

"I need to find them," Sirius said, as he pulled on his cloak. "I have to… maybe Dumbledore will be there, I can try to find out what happened…" He stopped in his tracks. "Is Harry…?"

"He's alive," Remus said. "They think."

"He left him alive?" Sirius asked, incredulous. "What? Why?"

"I don't know," Remus said. "If you'd let me go with you—"

"Stay here," Sirius said firmly. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"Sirius," Remus said quietly. "You all are my family, you have to believe me."

Sirius looked pained and said, "I want to." Remus reached out for him and Sirius pulled away. "Don't." He looked apologetic but just said, "I'll be back soon."

"Be safe," Remus called after him. He said something else, too, Rose could tell, but it was blurred and the sound had been removed. Sirius didn't respond and slammed the door. Rose followed Sirius out the door and the memory blurred once he got onto a motorbike in the street, until they had arrived at Godric's Hollow. Rose remembered the dilapidated cottage outside the cemetery from vague memories when she was very small, but it was smoking and crumbling as Sirius rode up to the street in front of it. He saw the crowd of gathering Muggles outside and drove around to the back, parking quickly and running in through the back door. Rose followed him through the hall into the sitting room, where he stopped in his tracks. Rose winced when she saw James Potter's body, looking eerily like the James Rose knew and hardly any older. He looked as if he had been laughing, and Sirius knelt down next to the body.

"Prongs, you idiot," Sirius whispered. "This is so bloody like you." He blinked back tears Rose could see were forming. She started to hear faint sounds of crying in the next room and Sirius seemed to as well, as he straightened up a little. "See you, James." He closed his eyes and stood up, climbing the stairs up to the bedroom on the first floor. Sirius was distracted by Lily's body for a second, and Rose was surprised to see Hagrid, holding a fussing young toddler with a large amount of dark hair. Hagrid held up his umbrella when the door opened and lowered it quickly.

"Sirius," he said. "I'm so sorry."

"Hagrid…What are you doing here?" Sirius asked.

"Dumbledore's orders," Hagrid said. "I'm supposed to bring him Harry."

"What happened? Do you know?" Sirius asked. "How is he alive?"

Hagrid shrugged. "We don't know. We know that somehow, You-Know-Who is dead."

Sirius's eyes widened. "You're sure?"

"Yes. Well, Dumbledore is. But I don't know… it doesn't make sense to me. But I've got to get Harry to Dumbledore."

"That's all right, I'll take him," Sirius said. Hagrid shook his head.

"No, Sirius, Dumbledore told me I have to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle."

Sirius looked affronted. "Petunia? Are you joking? I'm his guardian!"

"Dumbledore was clear," Hagrid said, looking apologetic. "Harry can only be safe in the Muggle world, until he's ready." He shook his head. "I don't like it either, Sirius. But it's not forever—we'll be able to see him once he goes to school…"

"Ten years?" Sirius asked. "That's ridiculous! I can only think what they'll do to him, they hate wizards, and Dumbledore knows that."

"I'm sorry, Sirius."

Sirius sighed and said, "Well… take my bike, then. You'll want to get him there fast."

"You're sure?" Hagrid asked.

"Yeah, whatever," Sirius muttered. "Can I…?"

"Sure. A couple minutes, though. I've got to get going." Sirius nodded and Hagrid handed him Harry.

Sirius tried his best to calm his crying, and eventually Harry quieted. "I wish I could tell you that you were coming with me… Moony and I would have spoiled you rotten. Though maybe this way you won't turn out like James." He sighed. "I'm sorry, kid. Don't let the Muggles get to you. I'll see you soon, I promise." Sirius took a deep breath and handed Harry back to Hagrid. "Good night, Hagrid." Hagrid nodded at him and started walking out. Sirius followed him, but stopped suddenly. "Hagrid? Do you know if… if Peter told Remus about the safe house?"

Hagrid looked confused. "No, of course not… Remus was talking to Dumbledore just yesterday, saying he wanted to know. Why?"

"So he didn't tell You-Know-Who," Sirius said. "…Thanks, Hagrid."

"Goodbye, Sirius," Hagrid said. He left through the back and Sirius walked into the sitting room, dazed. He stopped dead in front of the window, and Rose looked through to see a short, squat-looking young man peering through the window. He and Sirius locked eyes and the man looked terrified, beginning to stumble back away from the house. Sirius ran through the front door.

"PETER!" he shouted, disregarding the gathered dozen or so Muggle townspeople, and the man stopped. "What did you do? You betrayed them! You killed them! I'll kill you!"

"Sirius," the man squeaked. "I didn't… I…" He continued to back up and Sirius raised his wand.

"Be a man and face me!" he roared. "How could you?"

"Please don't hurt me!" Peter pleaded, though Rose noticed he had begun to reach for his wand. Sirius noticed too and laughed.

"Oh, please, fight me. Who do you think would win, you bloody rat?"

"I've been learning from the best," Peter said slowly, and before Sirius could react, he shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Sirius's wand flew out of his hand and Peter hit him with a Stunning spell. He fell onto the ground with surprising force, and Rose watched in horror as Peter threw his own wand down, and using Sirius's wand, shot bolts of green light around him, hitting all the Muggles watching them until they were all lying on the street, dead. His hand was shaking as he aimed his wand at his own hand, a nonverbal spell cutting off one of his fingers, and, cradling his bleeding hand, he said, "I'm sorry, Sirius. He threatened me."

"We were supposed to be your family," Sirius choked out, beginning to stand up.

"None of you ever really cared about me," Peter spat. "Here." He threw Sirius his wand.

"What… what are you doing?" Sirius asked, and Peter didn't respond. He changed into his rat form and scurried away.

"PETER!" Sirius shouted after him, looking around frantically. Before he could move, there was a loud cracking noise and suddenly, six men in Ministry robes were surrounding Sirius, wands pointed at his throat.

"Sirius Black, you're under arrest," one of the men shouted, his voice shaking a little. Rose could see the men eyeing the bodies of the Muggles in disgust. Sirius's eyes widened.

"No, it wasn't… It was Peter, Peter Pettigrew, he did this! He betrayed them! It wasn't me!"

"Give us your wand, we'll see," the man said, and Sirius sighed.

"No, he used my wand, he's trying to make you believe that I—"

"Sure. Surrender your wand or we'll have to Stun you."

"Dawlish. Dawlish, come on, you know me, you know I'd never betray the Order!" Sirius shouted at him. The man, Dawlish, shook his head.

"You have five seconds."

"It wasn't me! You have to believe me! It wasn't!"

All six of the Ministry men Stunned Sirius and he blacked out. The memory faded and Rose was back in McGonagall's office. "Questions, Miss Weasley?"

"I just don't understand how they never found out Sirius was framed," Rose said.

"I believe the Ministry was simply eager for the War to be over. Sirius was easily blamed for the crime."

"But no one even listened later! Uncle Harry told us he was on the run for the rest of his life."

"His name has been cleared now, Miss Weasley. Do you know why I have shown you this memory?""I think you're probably going to tell me not to trust anyone," Rose said. "But I do trust Al, and James…"

"I'm not going to tell you not to trust anyone, Miss Weasley. Actually, I was going to tell you to trust those closest to you." Rose looked confused. "If Sirius had trusted Remus, perhaps things would have turned out differently."

"…What do they keep tampering with, Professor?" Rose asked. McGonagall shook her head.

"Mr. Black was always a very private man. I'm sure you understand." Rose nodded, though she wasn't sure she did, and McGonagall continued. "I want you to remember that your family and friends will have your best interests at heart most of the time, and too much caution can damage you more than you may think. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Professor." Rose hesitated before asking, "Do you know how to get rid of the Cailleachan?" McGonagall looked startled.

"Are you sure that is what is causing the attacks?"

"We're pretty sure," Rose conceded, "but we can't be certain until we see one."

"Yes, of course… there is a potion, I believe. I will ask the Potions substitute if it is in the stores. If that is all, you may go, Miss Weasley. We can discuss this further tomorrow."

"Good night, Professor," Rose said, and left the office feeling uneasy. The memory had done nothing but make her more anxious about the war. She had no idea who she could trust and she didn't think it would be possible for her to ever really know.


	21. The Slytherin Prefects

**Hi everyone! I hope you like the chapter, reviews are great! Also, I'm just going to say now that whatever comes out about the Cursed Child I'm going to pretty much completely ignore (especially considering some of the things I've already heard). That being said, thanks so much for reading. Enjoy! -Kelly :)**

CHAPTER 21

THE SLYTHERIN PREFECTS

Three weeks later, June had come and the new Minister had been inaugurated. Most of the students didn't seem to care much about this, as finals were coming, and even Rose was distracted a little by the prospect of yet more exams. Lucy, however, who'd hardly ever had to study for much of anything, was very much politically charged during the last month of school. Rose thought it was probably because she dreaded losing direct influence on Hogwarts when she graduated, even though Rose was going to continue the Army. "I just want to get as many people on our side as possible," she told Rose as she stapled Union flyers to the memo board in the Great Hall.

"A lot of people already are," Rose said, "especially our age. The Army's growing, you know that."

"I know," Lucy said. "And that's great. But the Army isn't doing much if it's underground, and it's not always political either. I want as many people as possible to join the Union."

"It's easy for you," Rose said. "You're so passionate about it, but a lot of people who agree with you don't want the risk of supporting it publicly."

"Yeah, I know," Lucy said, rolling her eyes. "Why do you think I can't get a single job?"

"Really? No one?" Rose asked. "You applied for so many posts, though—"

"Honestly, Rose, I wasn't expecting to get into the Ministry internships," she said. "We didn't oust everyone. No one managing starting positions is in any kind of place where they can risk giving me a government job."

"Well… will you be okay?" Rose asked, feeling concerned for the first time.

"Yeah, yeah, Bella's letting me live at the headquarters for mostly free. I'll just get a Muggle job until this is over with."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when they finally come around and vote on the Statute." Rose worried that might take quite a while longer than Lucy was expecting, but didn't say anything. "Anyway, you'll replace me next year so you've got to find someone to replace you."

"I was thinking Lily, actually—"

"That's perfect. I mean, you could go with Aidan but…" Lucy saw Rose's face at the suggestion and said, "Yeah, exactly."

"I mean, of course he can keep on as the secretary…"

"You don't want to work with him so much as vice president, yeah, I know. It's okay, Rose. But you can't avoid him forever."

"I don't avoid him," Rose protested. "I mean, I'm… civil."

"Sure. I'm going to put these up in Ravenclaw, will you take some to Gryffindor?"

Rose sighed. "Fine." Lucy grinned and handed her a flyer before running off, and Rose went back up to the common room. She had reached the memo board when Arya approached her. "Hey, Arya, what's up?" Rose asked.

"My aunt said to ask you about my finals, if you could help," she said. "I don't need it, though."

"I… didn't say you did, but it couldn't hurt, right?" Rose said, and Arya grumbled as she sat down on the nearest sofa. Rose sighed and sat down across from her as Arya took out her books.

"Here, there's Transfiguration, and honestly the only thing I don't totally get is History of Magic."

"Okay, so what are you guys studying in that?"

"Lots of goblins," Arya muttered. "Goblin wars, goblin weapons, goblin everything."

"Right, I remember," Rose said, shuddering slightly. "Really, you've just got to memorize the names. The rest is fairly common sense—it's mostly a lot of colonialism and weapons forges."

"So the wars—?"

"Yeah, er, mostly again, memorize names. All you need to know is the wizards won and took control of the forges, though they gave the goblins Gringotts and control over the economy. So most jewelry and weapons made from goblin forges have confusing ownership. The goblins think it's all theirs."

"Got it… I'll memorize later. Can you help with this essay on Switching Spells?"

"Yeah, sure." Rose took the book Arya handed her and asked, "So it's on these pages?" Arya didn't respond and Rose looked up to see that Arya was looking off into the distance, her eyes widened. "Arya?"

Arya began to speak then, with a completely blank expression and with a voice that didn't seem like hers. " _They are coming tonight, the master and his followers, and there will be suffering, they will bring terror, and they will find what they seek…tonight…_ " Arya relaxed then, and looked at Rose, confused. "What?"

Rose blinked several times and said, "Er, do you remember what you said or…?"

"Did I say something?" she asked. "What did I say?"

"Er… I think we should go to your aunt, okay?" Arya nodded, looking even more confused, and Rose stood up to leave when she realized the entire common room was staring at them. Though thankfully most students were still at dinner, it was still a significant amount of people and Rose knew she had to tell them something. "We're going to talk to the headmistress, so don't worry about this. We'll handle it."

"Are you sure we shouldn't be warning everyone? Because it sounds like bloody You-Know-Who's going to storm the castle or something," a sixth year boy said.

"We're going to be fine, whatever happens, the teachers will handle it," Rose said, though she knew she'd be furious if someone had said that to her. She hurried over to where Arya was standing, holding open the portrait hole and added, "And Voldemort's been dead your whole life, I think you'll be fine if you say his name." She slammed the portrait hole behind them and all but ran to the headmistress's office. When they arrived, Arya practically shouted the password at the gargoyle, who moved as quickly as possible. The door was hanging open when they reached the top of the stairs and they burst in to find the office empty.

"What are you doing here, Weasley?" the portrait of Phineas Black asked her, looking down from his large nose. "I don't recall anyone letting you in."

"It's an emergency," Rose snapped. "Where's Professor McGonagall?"

"The headmistress has been called away," he said.

"You're joking," Rose groaned.

"I am most certainly not joking, you insolent—" the portrait fumed before Rose cut him off.

"This is important!" Rose exclaimed, furious.

"I hardly think your problems are more important than what the headmistress is doing now."

"What's she doing now, because Nott might be at the front door any moment!"

"I'm not at liberty to say," Phineas sniffed. "Surely you could find someone a little less busy to help you?"

"Oh, sure, it's only the safety of the school at stake," Rose muttered. "Git."

"I'll not be insulted by you, filthy blood traitor half-blood—"

"Merlin, I should have sent Scorpius. Come on, Arya," Rose said.

As they left, the portrait shouted after them, "Perhaps! He's a blood traitor too but at least he's pure!" She slammed the door and rushed down the stairs, even angrier than before. Of course, McGonagall was gone that night, of all nights…

"Do you have any idea where she is?" Rose asked.

"I didn't even know she was gone," Arya said, shrugging. Rose sighed. "Who's deputy headmaster?"

"Er… Neville. I think. Let's go." Rose ran down the four flights of stairs to the ground floor and out the back door to the Herbology greenhouses, where they found Neville tending the NEWT classroom's Tentaculas. "Professor Longbottom?" Neville turned around and dropped his tweezers when he saw them on the table.

"Rose, Arya, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Arya just… predicted something about a master and followers coming to Hogwarts, tonight. I think Nott's coming."

Neville was already removing his apron and gloves as he said, "You're sure it was a real prediction?"

"Seeing as she doesn't remember…"

"I blacked out, though," Arya said. "I mean… like a minute's missing from my memory."

"Okay. Rose, go directly to Professor Rudomin and tell him I want him to secure the castle. Arya, come with me, we're going to go see Professor Trelawney." Neville ushered Arya out of the greenhouse and Rose ran after them, back into the castle and all the way to the Defence classroom. She ran straight through the empty rows of desks and up to the office door.

"Professor Rudomin? It's urgent," she called out. Rudomin answered the door almost immediately.

"What's happened?"

"Nott's coming, Arya predicted it… Professor Longbottom told me to tell you to secure the castle."

"Yes. All right, go to Gryffindor Tower and make sure no one leaves, I'll be sending up anyone who was in the Great Hall or on the grounds, all right?" he asked. Rose nodded and Rudomin hurried around her, wand out. "If you see any Prefects, from any house, tell them to do the same."

"Professor, where's McGonagall?" Rose called after him.

"I don't know," Rudomin said, sounding hesitant. "But Professor Longbottom will try to contact her, I'm sure." With that, Rudomin was gone, and Rose ran out as well, running through the Entrance Hall as Rudomin entered the Great Hall. She ran up the staircases one by one, and on the third floor stopped abruptly when she spotted Devon Goyle with a group of Slytherins. She was about to approach them when she noticed that one of the other Slytherins was Lexa. She hesitated then, but eventually convinced herself that she couldn't possibly ignore _two_ Slytherin prefects when she was supposed to stop any. Rose ran up to them, hoping to get it over with as quickly as possible.

"Devon?" she called, and Devon turned around quickly.

"Hey, Rose, what's up?"

"Longbottom and Rudomin are securing the castle, I'm supposed to tell you… well, both of you," she said, eyeing Lexa who was staring at her with somewhat of an upturned nose, "to get back to your common room and make sure everyone's there."

"What? Why?" Lexa asked, looking a little annoyed.

"Nott's coming," Rose said, growing impatient. "We don't know how, but we know he'll get in."

Devon turned to the other Slytherins with them and said, "Guys, get back to the dungeons." They left quickly, seeming a little scared, and he turned back to Rose. "Is he coming for you?"

"Probably," Rose said, "but it doesn't matter, we have to get everyone accounted for."

"Um," Lexa said, in a hesitant voice, "it might matter." Rose looked at her, thoroughly confused at this point, and she said, "…Ajax Rosier was talking, earlier… we usually ignore him, you know, he's kind of got delusions of grandeur… but he was talking about you, saying you'd be sorry for all this Ministry stuff, and… I haven't seen him since lunch."

Rose had to admit she was alarmed by this, but didn't know if she could really trust what Lexa was saying. "You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she said, and Rose saw her growing red. "I wouldn't have told you if I didn't think you were really in danger, Weasley."

"…Okay," Rose said. "Do you know where he is?"

"I told you I didn't."

"Do you have any idea where he might be?" Rose amended, again getting impatient.

"…Maybe? I know where he likes to hang around, if that's what you mean."

"Let's go," Rose said. Lexa blinked and Rose said, "Take me there. We might be able to stop him, if you're right and he's going to help Nott get in."

"What about Gryffindor?" Devon asked. "Does anyone else know to stay in the tower?"

"Well, sort of…" Rose didn't have time to explain Arya's situation, so she said, "Er, Al knows."

"Okay. I'll get to Slytherin then, you two go. Er, good luck," he added quickly before running down the last stairs. Rose quickly closed her eyes and hoped the message reached Al.

 _We're securing the castle. Nott might be coming. Keep everyone in the tower._

"What are you doing?" Lexa asked, sounding even more nervous than before. Rose opened her eyes and shook her head.

"No time to explain. Let's go." Lexa looked at her oddly for another second or so before hurrying down the corridor.

"He has this spot, out in the woods—"

"The cave?" Rose asked, remembering the first time Nott had come in the castle. "Yeah. I know where it is."

"Okay, come on, then." Rose followed Lexa down to the Entrance Hall, now deserted, before she skidded to a stop. "Wait! There are Aurors, they'll see us."

"Hold on," Rose sighed. She took out her wand and performed a Disillusionment Charm quickly before doing it to Lexa too.

"How did you do that?" Lexa asked. "We haven't learned that."

"Trick I learned from James Potter," Rose said. "Come on. We can sneak out when they open the doors for the patrol." Sure enough, it was only a few minutes before there were Aurors hurrying from their posts inside the castle to help secure the doors. When they were let outside, Rose followed right behind them and pulled Lexa along with her, who barely made it out before they slammed the doors shut. They moved silently until they were out of the Aurors' earshot and finally spoke again.

"How are we going to get back in?" Lexa hissed.

"Er… I'll think of something," Rose shot back, growing more annoyed every second.

"Is this how you people live?" Lexa muttered. "It's a wonder you aren't dead."

"Yes, well, I try," Rose said, trying not to show that she somewhat agreed. "The cave's right down here, right?"

"Yeah, it's just a few minutes' walk past the tree line." They entered the Forest and carefully made their way through the trees, trying not to alert any of the creatures around them to their presence. Just as the cave came into view, they saw a figure standing outside, seeming to be pacing. Rose couldn't tell if it was Rosier from this distance but Lexa grabbed her arm. "That's him," Lexa whispered. "Undo whatever you did, I'll talk to him."

"What?" Rose asked, alarmed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she said. "He trusts me, come on."

"Wait," Rose said, hesitating. What if this was all a trick to get her to go to the Forest? "I don't know if you should talk alone…"

"You think I'm going to team up with him and Disarm you or something?" Lexa scoffed. Rose didn't respond and she looked to be almost hurt. "Listen… I don't like you but I don't want you dead. Ajax might as well be a Death Eater. Please try to trust me." Rose hesitated a little before undoing the spell. Lexa almost smiled and ran out of the foliage. Rosier pulled his wand quickly before lowering it, swearing.

"Lexa," he muttered. "How did you know I'd be here?"

"You're always here," she said, using the overly sweet voice Rose had heard her try to use with Scorpius. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. No one's seen you all day."

"I'm fine," he muttered. "You shouldn't be here, Lexa."

"Why not?" she asked.

"I'm… expecting someone."

"Is that what all the craziness up at the castle is about?" she asked. Rosier looked surprised.

"How did they find out?"

"I don't know, but they're in lockdown. What's going on?"

"I… can I trust you?"

"Of course," she said. Rose hid behind the foliage more than before; despite the Disillusionment Charm, she was concerned it was wearing off.

"I'm helping some of the Followers get in."

"Why?" Lexa asked, looking concerned. "Wouldn't that… that's pretty dangerous, right?"

"They won't hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it," he said, almost defensively. "They wouldn't hurt you."

"Well, yeah, but… some of them might misunderstand. I always get a little nervous when they come… you know, because…"

"Right. You're a half-blood," Ajax said, and Rose noticed that even with Lexa, a little tinge of disgust crept into his voice.

"…My dad is," Lexa corrected him. "I—I'm pure, I've always been… I'm a Black, Ajax."

"Yeah. They'll know that," he said, trying to sound reassuring, but it fell flat. He sighed. "Look, if you're that nervous, go back up to the castle."

"Well… I don't want to go alone, it's dangerous, will you take me?"

"I have to get them in! I can't leave!"

"Why isn't anyone helping you?"

"I have to do this alone."

"Why?"

"He said I have to."

"But why, Ajax? Can't Acantha, or…"

"They said they don't trust anyone else to do it anymore," he said. "They… they said if I do it I can be one of them."

Rose couldn't help but gasp a little. He was fourteen… a Death Eater?

"Are you… are you sure you want to do this?"

"Of course I'm sure!" he exclaimed. "Why wouldn't I be sure? Are you not sure?"

"Rosier, do you have to remind us how childish you can be? Stop quarreling with your girlfriend," a man said, appearing out of seemingly nowhere, and Ajax jumped a little as he turned around.

"Dolohov," he said quickly. "This is Lexa."

"Who?" Dolohov asked.

"I'm a Black… descendant," she said quickly.

Dolohov looked suspicious. "Yeah… so is the Malfoy kid."

"Scorpius is a traitor," Lexa said definitively. "I'm loyal."

"Are you? Good," Dolohov said. "I thought you'd be alone, Rosier."

"I did, too…" he said, and Dolohov waved him off.

"It's no matter. How many guards?"

"Five, at my last count," Ajax said.

"I've got enough men. We can get in," Dolohov said. "Let's go."

"Wait, there's a back entrance," Ajax said. "We can walk right into the courtyard and no one will know."

Rose started to panic at the thought and Lexa said quickly, "They know about it. They're blocking it off, I saw."

Dolohov turned to her. "You're sure?"

"Yes," she said quickly.

"Well…all right, then. We'll have to make a head-on attack. Get yourself back to the castle, girl."

"I'll go with you, Lexa," Ajax said, and Dolohov grabbed his sleeve.

"You aren't going anywhere. You're getting us in, you said. You attack with us." Ajax looked nervous and Dolohov rolled his eyes. "You said you wanted to join; you can't go back to Hogwarts _and_ join."

"Why… why can't I? I'll be a spy, I can get you information on McGonagall and the Weasley girl.""I don't have the authority, kid, you've got to wait until Nott gets here and talk to him."

"Well, I… I'll have already shown myself by the time he's here!"

"Just act a little odd, you can claim Imperius later," Dolohov said. "My patience is wearing thin. Your girlfriend better get out of here, now."

Ajax turned to her. "Go, Lexa. You'll be safe in Slytherin."

"Okay," she said quickly. "Bye." She walked away straight towards Rose and whispered as she passed by, "I did my best, maybe the Aurors will finish one or two off."

Rose ran after her, Disillusionment Charm thankfully still intact, and snuck back into the castle through the back entrance, which was not at all blocked off.


	22. Nott, Dolohov, and Lestrange

**Hi everyone! Thanks so much for reading, I hope you like it! Please review! -Kelly :)**

CHAPTER 22

NOTT, DOLOHOV, AND LESTRANGE

"Come on, we've got to tell Longbottom what we saw," Rose said, removing her Charm, as soon as they got inside the castle. Lexa stopped in her tracks.

" _You_ can tell him," she said. "This can't be traced back to me."

"Are you serious?" Rose exclaimed. "You wanted to help!"

"Yes," Lexa hissed. "But no one can know that." Rose looked at her in disbelief and she sighed. "Look…this isn't about popularity… no one will speak to me ever again if I do that. I mean _ever_ again. No one really believes I'm a pureblood anyway, if I'm a traitor too…no offense. Well, some. I mean… I don't agree with this Death Eater stuff, but I can't ever say that. Understand?"

"I suppose," Rose said slowly. "I'll just… go then." She turned around to leave and had only gotten a few paces away from Lexa when she spoke again.

"I know you think even less of me now, but it's a whole different world for you, Weasley," she said. "You're encouraged to do insane things like this."

Rose turned around again and said, "I don't understand what you see in that whole world. Why do you care what a lot of old people think about your grandparents?"

"I…" Lexa seemed at a loss for words. "I wish I didn't have to, really, I do."

"But you don't, Lexa. You can change your mind, everyone else will accept you at least."

"Would you, though? You think they've accepted Scorpius? Really?" Lexa shook her head. "It's not that I don't… necessarily want to, or… want to help, at least. Just… tonight isn't the time."

Rose stared at her, knowing they would never really see things the same way. She almost felt sorry for her. "…Okay. Go, then," Rose finally said. Lexa nodded and ran back towards the dungeons. Rose realized then that she didn't know where Neville was, but that he'd most likely be at the front of the castle. Instead, she began going back up to Gryffindor tower and saw that the Fat Lady was gone. She began pounding on the portrait hole until finally, she heard Rudomin's voice from within.

"Who's there?"

"Rose Weasley, Professor, please let me in!" she exclaimed.

The Professor opened the portrait hole a few inches and she could see that his wand was trained on her. "What careers did we discuss in my office?"

"A… a Ministry internship."

"Too easy for someone to guess, what else?"

"Healer… and you told me to take the Magical Theory elective, and Muggle Studies…" The portrait swung open and Rudomin lowered his wand.

"You were supposed to come straight to Gryffindor, Rose."

"I know, I'm sorry, but… Dolohov is coming with at least five Followers and Ajax Rosier."

"How do you know?" Rudomin asked.

Rose hesitated before saying, "I had help from a Slytherin… they want to be anonymous."

Rudomin drew his wand again and stepped outside the portrait hole. "I have to warn the Aurors and Professor Longbottom. James, no one leaves this tower!" The Professor hurried down the corridor and Rose shut the portrait hole after him. Immediately, James was at her side, standing near the door.

"We sort of thought you were a Death Eater, sorry about that," he said. Rose nodded.

"Yeah, I kinda got that."

"So between you and me, what Slytherin was it? Goyle, I'm guessing?" Rose shook her head. "No? Who?"

"I…they don't want me to tell you."

"Seriously?" James asked. When Rose didn't respond, he rolled his eyes. "Fine. So… Dolohov, eh? Nott isn't here?"

"Not yet," Rose said. "He's coming. That's what Dolohov said anyway."

"We'll be ready," James said. "Practically half the House is in the Army by now, anyway."

"Not quite," Rose said, "but we won't have to fight anyway. They've alerted the Auror office, I doubt they'll get in."

"Well…" James said, "they're already coming. Look." Rose followed his gaze out of one of the windows across the room and saw seven figures crossing the grounds, illuminated by the moonlight. They watched in silence for a few seconds before James said, "If they're fighting down there I ought to go."

"You need to stay here," Rose said, "you're Head Boy."

"What's this about leaving?" Alice asked, having just come over to where they were standing.

"I need to help," James said. "Really help, you lot can handle keeping people in Gryffindor—"

"Are you mental? They could kill you!" Alice exclaimed.

"I'll be fine," James said, "don't worry about me."

"Oh, hell, James, don't tell me not to worry about you. You get yourself into everything dangerous under the sun and expect me to be fine with it—"

"I don't expect you to care at all!"

"You know that I do!" Alice said. "Don't be stupid!"

James looked genuinely surprised. "I—you do?"

Alice suddenly leapt forward and kissed James, who practically lost his balance in his enthusiasm. She broke away eventually and said, "Of course I do!"

"Well, bloody hell, Alice, you should've said something before." Rose was smiling, trying to be happy for them, but she almost felt jealous. At least someone was happy. "When—I asked you two weeks ago, for Merlin's sake—"

"It was different then, now you could die, or at least—well, I just—I don't know, okay, I…"

"I'm not complaining, I mean…" James laughed a little and asked, "Er, so what now?"

"We'll talk tomorrow. But you aren't leaving. We have to protect the tower," Alice said firmly, and with some difficulty went back to her position across the room. James grinned, looking as if someone had just hit him over the head.

"Oi. James. Wake up." James snapped out of his thoughts and laughed.

"Sorry, Rosie. Er, I suppose we're the line of defense at the portrait hole."

"Are you sure you don't want Gemma? She's a seventh year."

"With nowhere near your practical experience," James said. "Nah. You stay." Just then, there was a large exploding sound coming from the front of the castle. A rush of Gryffindors swarmed the windows and James began pushing past them. "Move, you lot, I'm Head Boy!" he finally roared, and the group of second years directly in front of him scattered immediately. Rose followed him closely enough that she got through the crowd as well just in time to see Professor Rudomin dueling three of the Death Eaters. Several of the Aurors were already injured. There seemed to be more figures than there had been before, some of them looking much too small to be grown men. Rose tried to get a better look—she thought for a minute they were more students than Rosier, but she knew he had said he was alone. A few of the mysterious figures swarmed one of the remaining Aurors and a Death Eater hit him with a curse while he was distracted. Eventually the Death Eater forces overpowered Neville and Rudomin, all the Aurors being dispatched, and the front doors flew open with an even louder bang. James swore and ran back toward the portrait hole. "All prefects need to get over here now!"

"You think they'll come here?" Hector asked as he ran up to the two of them.

James looked at him incredulously. "You think they won't?" About five minutes later, after a long, tense silence, there was a loud noise as someone had clearly tried to knock down the portrait hole. "It'll hold," James tried to tell the others. As the loud noises grew louder, the entrance eventually began to shake, and after a little while he said, "If you're not a prefect, get to your dormitories."

"Brilliant," Al muttered. Rose watched Hugo scramble up the staircase, along with several other of the younger students, and finally they heard muffled shouting outside and the portrait hole exploded, leaving a gaping hole through which several Death Eaters soon entered. James attempted to cast a nonverbal hex at the first one, who blocked it and Disarmed him more quickly than Rose had hoped.

"Keep an eye on Potter, he's always been trouble," Dolohov grunted. "Where's the other one?"

"Here," one of the others said, grabbing Al from behind and holding her wand up to his neck.

Someone Disarmed Rose from behind her and she too also felt a wand against her neck soon. "I've got Weasley."

"Good. Find Malfoy." One of the Death Eaters fell over after a beam of red light shot out at them from behind James, and Dolohov immediately cast a hex back at Gemma. She dropped to the ground, screaming, and Dolohov sighed. "Stun the others." Several beams of red shot out and hit Hector, Alice, and James, who fell over. Dolohov walked into the middle of the common room, now deserted, and grumbled, "Hiding?" He then shouted at the boys' staircase, "If Scorpius Malfoy doesn't come down immediately, without his wand, we'll start killing first years." As expected, merely seconds later they heard footsteps on the stairs until Scorpius appeared, hands over his head. "Good. Let's go, then." Rose was pulled roughly out of the portrait hole, as was Al. Scorpius was dragged out by Dolohov, though he wasn't protesting much.

 _Why did you do that?_ she asked them as they were marched out through the courtyards.

 _Like you wouldn't have done the same thing! Do you want dead first years?_ he immediately responded.

 _No, but I don't want dead you either._

 _You don't? Could've fooled me._

 _This isn't funny._

 _Okay, sorry. Anyway, they need us, we'd be dead already if they didn't._

 _Unless Nott wants to kill us himself._

 _You're cheery today._

As soon as they reached the courtyard, they were being pulled toward Hogsmeade, and Rose saw that Rosier was waiting for them. "Your girlfriend was lying, Rosier, it's not blocked off."

"Maybe they abandoned it when they sent reinforcements to the front," Rosier said, but Dolohov clearly wasn't listening.

"Whatever. You said you know the quickest way out of the anti-Apparition area."

"This way." Rosier led the Death Eaters down a hill behind the castle until they had reached a dirt road with a sign reading ENTERING HOGSMEADE. "This is it."

"Call him." Rosier glanced at the three of them a little apprehensively before he pulled back his sleeve and pressed the Dark Mark that was freshly emblazoned on his forearm. Less than a minute later, a loud cracking noise announced the appearance of a tall figure in a long black cloak. The hood was pulled back to reveal Nott, looking almost hopeful. He grinned when he saw them.

"Excellent. Rosier, you will help the others defend themselves against the teachers, I'm sure they'll be here shortly. Dolohov, Lestrange, it's time." He turned to Rose, Al, and Scorpius. "You three are coming with us."

"I don't know what you want from us," Rose said. "We don't know anything about the Stone we didn't know before."

"I'll tell you when you need to know something," Nott snapped. "Come with us. Now." Rose glanced at Al and Scorpius before they Nott, Dolohov, and Lestrange each held onto one of them and Disapparated.

They appeared on the doorstep of a large house, seemingly in the middle of the countryside somewhere. It was falling apart but showed signs of once being an illustrious manor. Rose didn't know where they were but she imagined it was very far from Hogwarts. They were pushed inside roughly and Nott locked the door behind them. "There. Now, Lestrange… retrieve our allies."

"I can't control those bloody things," Lestrange said.

Nott rolled his eyes. "Dolohov, go with him." The two men Disapparated again and Nott looked at the three of them, his wand still trained on them. "I don't expect that any of you are particularly accomplished Occlumenses, but know that if you attempt to hinder our efforts you'll be dead." None of them said anything until Dolohov and Lestrange returned, with wands trained on small, shadow-like apparitions with red glowing eyes. Rose recognized the creatures as the hags and looked back up at Nott.

"So you're controlling them?" Rose asked.

Nott rolled his eyes. "We didn't imagine they would enter the castle. The ghosts were not part of the plan. We needed them for you three."

He pulled a stone out of his cloak, around the size of his palm. The stone was glassy-looking, almost grey-blue, with a perfect circle bored through the center. The hags held by Dolohov and Lestrange hissed and backed away. "This is a hag stone. They're only found in areas containing a hag population, so naturally we had to introduce some to the Hogwarts grounds."

"What do you need a bloody stone for?" Al asked, and Rose and Scorpius looked sharply at him as Nott glared.

"The hag stone possesses the ability to detect dark magic, if someone of great magical ability tied to the magic looks through it."

"We don't have ties to Dark magic, I don't know what you're—"

"Mr. Potter, speak again and I will ensure you regret it," Nott snapped. "Dolohov." Dolohov crossed the entrance hall of the house to a side room and returned holding the Resurrection Stone. "And I assure you, you're mistaken." They set the Resurrection Stone on the ground in front of them and Nott shoved the hag stone into Al's hands. "The three of you need to use your connection. Now."

"Why?" Rose asked.

"Just connect! Don't ask questions, you aren't in any position to ask me questions!" Nott exploded, and quickly Rose looked at Al and Scorpius and nodded slightly.

 _Just keep talking, I suppose._ Rose waited a few seconds before Al responded.

 _Well, this is fun._

 _Whatever you say, Weasley._ After Scorpius had sent the thought, Al hesitated before trying to look through the Stone.

"What do you see?" Nott asked eagerly.

"Er…it's sort of glowing," Al said.

"Exactly as expected! The core is glowing, correct?"

"No… the whole thing."

Nott looked disappointed and said, "What do you mean?"

"Well, it makes sense. It's a Deathly Hallow, it is Dark."

"That's not what we mean by—no!" Nott exclaimed, snatching the hag stone from Al's hands. "You're looking for a glowing part of the Stone, inside it!"

"What exactly are we looking for?" Al asked.

"You know perfectly well!" Nott hissed. Rose shook her head, genuinely confused now. Nott seemed to see this and laughed. "You can't tell me he hasn't told you. You've been hiding the Stone for him for years and yet you don't know what it contains?"

"What? Who?" Al asked. Nott laughed even more.

"Your father, boy, who else? He's never told you?"

"Told us what?" Al asked, looking indignant now.

"You've never questioned how your father survived? How he brought himself back to life?"

"What?" Al exclaimed. "He what?"

Nott looked astounded. "You trust so blindly?" He shook his head. "No. I don't believe it. Take the other two upstairs, I'm going to have a conversation with Potter." Dolohov and Lestrange grabbed Rose and Scorpius and dragged them up the stairs, despite their struggling. They were thrown into an abandoned study and the door was locked magically. Soon after they could hear Al shouting downstairs and Scorpius slumped down against the wall.

"This isn't good," he muttered. "Are you okay?"

"What? I'm—I'm fine," Rose said, though her voice was shaking. She was trying not to think about what she could hear from Al and Nott downstairs and soon Scorpius had moved closer to her.

"You don't sound fine."

"Well, what do you expect?" Rose exclaimed. "Al's…" another scream punctuated her concern and she shuddered.

"I know. I'm worried about him, too. We'll be okay."

"You don't know that," Rose said, and Scorpius hesitated.

"Well, no," he admitted. They sat in silence for a minute. Eventually, he reached over and put his arm around her. Rose tensed before deciding not to say anything. She was randomly reminded of hiding from a snake on Halloween night in first year and almost laughed. Everything was completely, horribly different now.

"Got any ideas?" he asked.

"…I've got one, but it's mad," Rose said quietly.

"I'd start talking," Scorpius said.

"Er… we're not at Hogwarts, so if we cast a spell…the Trace would tell the Ministry where we are, right?"

"I guess, yeah," Scorpius said, "but it would have to be powerful, it doesn't pick up little spells. And they'd know what we were doing, they'd just move us."

"Maybe… but not if it looked like we were just trying to escape," Rose said.

"You want to attack them?" Scorpius asked, dropping his voice even lower. "The trained killers outside the door?"

"Have you got a better idea?" Rose hissed.

"…No," Scorpius said. "But I'll do it."

"No, it was my idea, I'm not going to make you." Rose took a deep breath and stood up, facing the door.

"Weasley! Get down!" Scorpius whispered. Rose didn't listen and raised her wand, her hand shaking as Al screamed again downstairs.

" _Reducto!"_ Rose shouted, and the door blew off its hinges and slammed against the opposite wall. Dolohov and Lestrange instantly had Disarmed her and pointed their wands at her.

"What was that?" Nott shouted from downstairs.

"Weasley!" Dolohov shouted.

"Bring her," Nott called back, sounding annoyed.

"Come on," Dolohov grunted, pulling Rose roughly by the arm out of the door.

"No! Wait! It was me! Take me!" Scorpius started to shout, getting up from the floor, but Lestrange pushed him back down.

"Nice try, Malfoy." Rose was pulled down the stairs before she heard anything else and was shoved onto the floor of the entrance hall.

"Take Potter—he's not all that useful, I'm afraid," Nott said, and Dolohov levitated Al's unconscious body up the stairs with him. "Are you really so foolish you thought you could escape?" Rose didn't respond and he rolled his eyes. "Well, then. You're rather more clever than Potter, I'm told, so you might not be stupid enough to lie to me. What do you know about the night Harry Potter resurrected himself?"

"I… I know it's a rumor, but he's really never told us if it was even true," Rose said. "I'm not lying, I swear."

"I just can't believe that," Nott said. "Now, I know what he's hidden in there," he said, pointing to the Resurrection Stone on the floor, "but I don't know why it isn't appearing through the hag stone."

"What do you think is in there? There's nothing in there! It's a Deathly Hallow, it's not—"

"I'm tired of lies. _Crucio_."

Rose tried as best as she could not to scream but she couldn't help some of her reaction to the unbearable pain, and as she crashed to the floor afterwards she could vaguely hear Scorpius yelling and swearing at Dolohov and Lestrange upstairs.

"Will someone shut him up?" Nott called, and a couple seconds later Rose heard Scorpius screaming and tried to shut herself off from feeling anything about it. "I said shut him up, not make him louder!" With a loud bang, Scorpius stopped screaming, and Rose was struck with panic. "You're going to tell me. If it's not in the Stone, where is it?"

"Where's what? I don't know what you're talking about!" Rose exclaimed.

"For God's sake, the Horcrux, girl, where is it?"

"The what?"

" _Crucio!_ "

There was a loud bang coming from in front of them, but Rose couldn't see anything; she could hardly move other than trying to stop the pain any way she could, and when it ended she slowly became aware that there was a battle going on around them. As soon as she could move, she scrambled back to try to hide behind the banister of the front staircase. She could see four figures dueling with Nott, who was holding his own, and soon she saw Dolohov and Lestrange rush down the stairs and start to help. The figures, who Rose assumed must be Aurors, started to falter slightly when the doors flew open again and two more came running in. Rose's sight was becoming clearer again and she could make out who the Aurors were; Leah Shafiq and Teddy were two of the four dueling Nott, and Uncle Harry had rushed in with a woman Rose didn't recognize. She realized that her wand was unattended upstairs and started to plan how to slip through the banister and up the stairs. Just as she was about to move, she heard someone shouting at her. "Rose! Stay down!" Uncle Harry shouted, and Rose hesitated before sinking back below the banister. Soon, the Aurors had Stunned Lestrange unconscious and Nott shouted something Rose couldn't make out. A cloud of smoke appeared, wafting through the room, and when it cleared seconds later, Dolohov and Nott were gone. "Rose! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Al and Scorpius aren't—"

"Where are they?" Uncle Harry asked, his voice surprisingly even.

"Upstairs—I don't know if Scorpius is even—"

"We'll find them. Jones! Shafiq!" The woman Rose hadn't recognized and Leah rushed over to them. "Sweep upstairs for Al and Scorpius." They ran up the stairs quickly and Uncle Harry turned back to Rose.

"What happened?" Suddenly, the hags began to hiss in the corner of the room and the remaining Aurors immediately had their wands trained on them. They continued to charge, however, and Rose quickly ran over to the hag stone and held it up. The hags backed away again and she turned around, still holding the hag stone at them.

"This thing, it repels them I think," she said, and one of the other Aurors she didn't know took it from her, continuing to aim it at the hags.

"Can you get them to Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?" Uncle Harry asked the man, who nodded curtly and started to back out the door, drawing the hags to him while keeping the stone firmly in front of him.

"We found them! They're alive!" Leah's voice called throughout the house and Rose felt relieved. "They'll wake up soon, I think!"

"We'll take them back to Hogwarts with us," Uncle Harry called back. "Did they have the Stone?"

"Er, yeah," Rose said. "It should be there—" but when she looked, the Stone was gone. "It was there!"

"They must have taken it," Uncle Harry said. "It's all right, Rose, what's important is that you all are safe. I'll take you back to Hogwarts, we need to talk to all three of you." Rose grabbed onto his sleeve and they Disapparated.


	23. The Prophecy

**Hi everyone! The next chapter will be up shortly and will be the last one! Thanks so much for reading, and please review! -Kelly :)**

CHAPTER 23

THE PROPHECY

When they Apparated at the same point where Nott had taken them, Uncle Harry hurried into the castle as Rose followed him, more slowly than she had thought she'd be able to. Between the strain from the curses and the Apparition, she felt dizzy and barely kept up with him. They were met at the front doors by McGonagall and a number of other Aurors. "Miss Weasley, thank goodness," the headmistress said. "And…?"

"Al and Scorpius will be here soon," Uncle Harry said.

"Good, good," McGonagall said, looking relieved. "We should discuss what has happened. In my office, yes?"

"Sure. Let's go," Uncle Harry said. Rose tried to follow them but was walking slowly now, despite her best efforts. "Rose?"

"I think I should go to the hospital wing," she said, and her voice sounded weak. Immediately, Uncle Harry came back to where she stood and she gripped his arm as they instead went to the hospital wing on the next floor. Ms. Abbott let them in and quickly prepared a bed for her, where she sat down slowly and propped the pillow up. "Okay, I'm okay now," she said, though her voice still shook slightly.

"Can you tell us what they were looking for?" Uncle Harry asked.

"They wanted us to see if there was Dark magic in the Resurrection Stone. He thinks…" Rose hesitated a little. "Well, I didn't really understand. He thinks you… died, and came back to life. Is that true?"

"How much do you know about the Battle of Hogwarts, Rose?" Uncle Harry said, sounding reluctant.

"Er…not a lot. About the specifics, at least. And I've heard rumors that you died, but I never really believed… is it true?" Rose asked.

"…In a way, yes," Uncle Harry said. Rose was shocked by this, and still hadn't said anything several seconds later when Teddy and Leah came in, leading Scorpius and Al through the doors and into nearby beds as Ms. Abbott fussed around them.

"Rose! Are you okay?" Al exclaimed.

"I'm okay, what about you?"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Ms. Abbott muttered. "You've hit your head fairly hard, young man, and you have significant spell damage. You'll have to stay overnight. You two," she said, turning to Scorpius and Rose, "should be fine after you rest for a bit. And take this," she added, handing both of them vials of gray liquid. "It restores energy."

"Thanks, Hannah. Can we have a few minutes?" Uncle Harry asked. Ms. Abbott hesitated before nodding and moving back into her office. Rose drank the liquid, which was rather disgusting but started to work almost immediately, and Uncle Harry continued. "I don't understand what my… death has to do with the Resurrection Stone."

"He thinks you brought yourself back with it, I think," Al said.

"He said something to me," Rose said. "Something called a Horcrux." McGonagall and the Aurors immediately looked even more grim and Rose was getting impatient. "What is it?"

"He honestly thinks I made a Horcrux?" Uncle Harry exclaimed.

"What's a Horcrux?" Scorpius asked, and Uncle Harry hesitated.

"I don't know if we should discuss this now."

"We need to," Teddy said, and Uncle Harry shook his head.

"I don't think—they're so young…"

"Hardly younger than you were," Teddy told him.

"And I was too young."

"Dad," Al said. "This is obviously affecting us. We can't fight them if we don't know what they're talking about."

Uncle Harry was silent for several seconds before saying, "Lock the door, Teddy." Teddy got up to do so and Uncle Harry said, "Before I tell you, I want to make sure you know that I never did what they think I did, and I would never do anything like it."

"What?" Al pressed, and Uncle Harry continued.

"A Horcrux… is an incredibly Dark form of magic. The creator splits their soul and places part of it in an object, in order to preserve their life. If you're killed, the part of your soul preserved in the object lives on."

"So you can't die?" Rose asked.

"Not technically, unless the Horcrux is destroyed." He hesitated before saying, "Voldemort made seven Horcruxes. Rose's parents and I destroyed them, so when I faced Voldemort, he was mortal again. What Voldemort didn't know, though, was that he accidentally made one the night he killed my parents. Me." Al glanced at Rose, looking rather alarmed, and Uncle Harry continued. "When Voldemort killed me, he killed the Horcrux inside of me, but I didn't die. I came back. I don't know exactly how, but I survived. So, I didn't survive with a Horcrux, I was one. But they don't know that. Very few people know that. I suppose that leaves room for speculation."

"So they think they can't kill you unless they find your Horcrux?" Al asked.

"That's right."

"I don't think we should let them figure out that you didn't make one," Leah said. "I think it's pretty useful to have your enemies thinking they can't kill you."

Uncle Harry hesitated before he said, "You're right. We won't confirm one way or the other, in any way. Understood?"

"Well, he's a Legilimens," Rose said. "What if he sees it in our heads?"

Uncle Harry turned to McGonagall. "We should continue the Occlumency lessons, Professor."

"I agree," she said. "And I will also provide extra lessons for all three next term."

"Thank you," Uncle Harry said. "If that's all… we should go. We need to question Lestrange to find out exactly what he knows. Until we find out more, you should try to keep yourselves safe here. We've got extra Aurors stationed tonight, even though I don't think they'd try again so soon." He stood up and said, "I'll see you in a week, we can talk more then."

"Wait!" Al exclaimed, just as the Aurors were about to leave. "Sorry, Rose, I know we aren't supposed to say but—tell us the prophecy, Dad. We need to know."

Uncle Harry looked surprised. "No, you don't need to know. You aren't supposed to know about it anyway."

"He's right, Harry," Teddy said. "They've got a right to know."

Uncle Harry looked at his godson and sighed. "I don't want them to feel the way I—"

"I know, but it's too late for that." He hesitated and seemed to give in.

"Well… we don't have it here."

"I've been on the case for months, I've memorized it," Leah said, and Uncle Harry hesitated.

"Fine," he said reluctantly. Rose sat up straighter as Leah took a deep breath and began to recite.

 _The power of the three will be revealed_

 _The false three shall be defeated and_

 _They shall know the power of the Brothers themselves_

 _But they will pay for the sins of the fathers_

 _Three they will be but three they will not remain_

 _Their sacrifice will bring a new day_

 _The sins of the fathers will be washed away…_

Uncle Harry stood up as Rose was still reeling from what they had heard. "I'm sorry," he said, and they stood up and left the hospital wing.

McGonagall stood up as well. "I believe Miss Weasley and Mr. Malfoy are free to go, Ms. Abbott?" she called towards the office at the end of the wing.

"Yes, that's all right," Ms. Abbott said, coming out of her office and collecting the empty vials from them. "Good night, you two, and be careful."

"Thanks, Ms. Abbott," Rose said, her voice almost more shaky than before, and the headmistress turned to them sympathetically.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked them.

"Er, no, that's all right, Professor," Rose said.

"I'm going to sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Al said quietly, and rolled over in the bed before anyone could say anything. Ms. Abbott drew the curtains around him and Rose followed the headmistress out. They turned opposite ways, as Gryffindor was on the other side of the castle, and Rose began walking alone back to the tower. She was still astounded at what the prophecy had said. She tried to make herself think optimistically about what it could mean, but she couldn't ignore that it certainly sounded as if someone wouldn't survive.

"Weasley!" Rose stopped suddenly and turned around to see Scorpius running after her.

She couldn't help feeling a jolt in her stomach and said, "You… shouldn't be running, you were hurt."

"I had to catch up with you," he said. Rose blinked.

"Why?"

Scorpius looked a little surprised by this and said, "I wanted to make sure you were okay. Did they hurt you much?"

"I'm fine," Rose said. "Since when do you care, anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you haven't cared about me at all for months, and now you're throwing yourself in front of Death Eaters," she said, crossing her arms. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean I haven't cared about you? Of course I've cared about you!"

"Could've fooled me, Malfoy," she muttered, and he stepped closer. He looked genuinely hurt and Rose looked up at him, feeling a little nervous.

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry about everything, I was an idiot, seriously, I feel terrible that you thought I didn't care. I care. I always have." He hesitated and said, "I've been trying to avoid saying this, because I'm not exactly sure you feel the same, but I suppose we could die any minute so I want you to know I have feelings for you, real serious feelings, and I don't just want to snog, okay?"

Rose was speechless as he stared at her expectantly, and she felt at the same time extremely happy and extremely conflicted. She eventually backed away a few steps and said, "I need a little while to think about this."

Scorpius looked a little disappointed but nodded. "Okay. I just wanted you to know." Rose hesitated before hurrying along her way to Gryffindor Tower, leaving Scorpius standing in the middle of the corridor. She felt guilty, but it didn't outweigh her other feelings that were contributing to the whirlwind of emotion in her head at the moment. She had no idea how to process the prophecy and this at the same time. One of them could die, and it would be either her, her cousin that was more like her brother, or…whatever Scorpius was to her. She wasn't sure anymore. She hadn't been sure for over a year.

By the time she reached Gryffindor, she had convinced herself that she was just going to pretend like nothing had happened between them, but she knew that wasn't realistic. She'd have to see him again, it wouldn't be right of her to continue to block him out of her life, but what on Earth would she say to him? The Fat Lady had returned and let her into the common room without question. James was waiting for her and she smiled when she saw him, though she was only thinking of the emotional drain that would be the impending conversation. "Rosie! You're okay?"

"I'm okay," she said, nodding.

"Where's Al?"

"Er, hospital wing. He's asleep," she added as James began to stand up, "and he'll be back soon after tomorrow, I think."

"Well… okay. What did you talk about with my dad? I saw him come in, but—"

"Can we talk tomorrow? I'm exhausted," she said, and he nodded quickly.

"Er, sure. I made Hugo go to bed, so he'll probably jump on you tomorrow, though, just so you know."

"Thanks for the warning." Scorpius entered the portrait hole then and he walked by them without looking at them, his head down.

"All right, Malfoy?" James asked hesitantly. Scorpius nodded at them and continued up the stairs. "Whatever. Prick."

"Don't," Rose said tiredly. "You need to stop that."

"Oh, no, you've defected again," James said, pouting. "Fine, fine. I'll be nice."

"Good night," she said, forcing herself to smile again as she continued up to her dormitory. No one was awake when she got there and she practically collapsed immediately. All she wanted to do was sleep. There was no point in thinking about the practical death sentence she'd just heard. That's what she told herself, though it took her another hour or so before she finally allowed her mind to relax enough to fall asleep.


	24. Scorpius and Rose

**Hi everyone! Last chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading this book, and the whole series! The sixth book will be called Rose Weasley and the Rise of the Phoenix and will be up on my profile within a week or so. Again, thanks so much! Enjoy, and please review! -Kelly :)**

CHAPTER 24

SCORPIUS AND ROSE

Finals were easy compared to the OWLs; the difficult part of the last week of fifth year was acting normal around Scorpius while she had still not talked to him about his confession. Al remained oblivious, though it was rather easy for him to do so as he only got out of the hospital wing two days before the end of term and was exempted from finals. McGonagall tried to do the same for Rose and Scorpius, but they both refused, and Rose felt a little guilty about still wanting to get better marks than him. She couldn't help it at this point. James caused a fair amount of trouble by sneaking out of the castle after the final feast to Hogsmeade and being found after four butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks with Fred, Lucy and Harry. He gleefully reminded Rudomin that they had graduated six hours ago and he couldn't threaten them with anything, so he was forced to let them go back to the castle unpunished. James seemed to regret his idea in the morning, and didn't want to speak to anyone as they packed and headed towards the train. "You really couldn't have gone out tonight?" Al asked him as they carried their trunks along the dirt road up to the carriages.

"You'll understand when you graduate," James muttered. "Now shut up, please."

"If you tell us to shut up again, I'm telling Mum," Lily said as she sat down next to them. James's eyes widened.

"You're not telling Mum."

"You're an adult, but you're scared of your mother?" Rose laughed. James looked at her in disbelief.

"Have you met my mum?" They began to hear Hagrid calling for the seventh years and James sighed. "Oh, right, this. I'll see you on the train." He followed the other seventh years to the edge of the lake, where Hagrid had boats waiting to take the graduating class back to the train station, and Rose climbed into the nearest carriage with Al, Lily, and Hugo. Scorpius had left earlier in the morning with some of the other Gryffindors, and Rose had pretended not to really notice. She couldn't help but feel bad about it. She still had no idea what she was going to say to him, and she knew that she had to do it today. She didn't think he'd appreciate an owl.

Once the train started to move, Al and Rose went to the prefect meeting at the back of the train, which was a rather boring ten minutes of Ava and James thanking them and telling them what their remaining duties were, basically to be the last ones to leave the train and make sure no one was still on board. Other than that, they were done, and Rose was one of the first out of the compartment. Al followed her. "I think Lily and Hugo have a compartment near the front." Rose spotted Scorpius sitting in one of the nearby compartments alone and decided she had to talk to him.

"I'll find you in a minute, I have to talk to Ava about something."

"Oh, okay," Al said, and once he had gone far enough that he wouldn't be able to see her, she ducked into Scorpius's compartment.

"Er, sorry," she said, realizing she had just let herself in without asking. "If you want to be alone—"

"No, it's… it's fine," he said, smiling a little, though Rose thought it looked fake. She sat down across from him and stared at the floor for a second, trying to think of what she had been planning to say. "Er, Weasley?"

"Sorry," she said again. She felt incredibly awkward, especially when she looked up to find him staring at her. "I just… I'm sorry I haven't talked to you yet, I just…"

"You needed time, you said so," he said. "It's okay."

"Yes, but… I honestly have no idea what to say," she admitted. He looked at her carefully.

"Are you still mad at me?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said.

"I'm sorry about that whole mess last year. I should have told you."

Rose couldn't help laughing a little. "I wasn't even all that mad about that! It sounds insane but I was almost more upset that you just… moved on so quickly, you joined sports and clubs and you had a girlfriend and it felt like you just didn't need us, and… and I needed you and it made me feel stupid."

Scorpius looked at her, astonished. "I joined everything because I missed you and I dated April to see if you noticed."

"Really?" Rose asked. He nodded.

"Yes. I'm not proud of it, but yes."

"…Aidan was sort of like that. I mean, we were friends but I did want you to notice."

Scorpius looked almost hopeful. "So… what are you saying?"

Rose took a deep breath and said, "I have feelings for you, too. I have since… I don't know, third year?"

He smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that."

"Do you… do you really feel that way? I don't understand why…" Rose felt even more awkward, though she had started to smile, and Scorpius looked surprised.

"You can't say you didn't think so. Really? Did you honestly think I kissed you just so you could say you'd kissed someone?" Rose didn't know how to respond to that and Scorpius smiled even more. "It's okay. It's kind of… cute." Rose looked down at the ground, suddenly remembering the reason she'd been conflicted. "What?"

"Don't say that like this is easy," she said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… we can't just talk through all this and go on and be happy together, it won't work like that."

"And… why not?" Scorpius asked, though he sounded considerably less happy.

She looked back up at him and said, "You heard the prophecy. Someone is going to die."

"It's war," he said quietly. "It's not like we didn't always sort of know that. Besides, that only makes me want to not waste another minute."

"I…" Rose didn't know what to say, and she was panicking a little that he had almost convinced her. "It's not just that, either."

His smile faltered completely and he asked, "Is it because…it's because I'm a Malfoy, isn't it?"

Rose felt almost desperate as she said, "It's not that I care, because believe me, you know that I don't… it's just, everyone else will. My parents, my cousins, my friends…"

Scorpius stood up and, with a flick of his wand, brought the blinds down on the compartment so they were blocked from view. "I don't care. They don't have to know."

Rose bit her lip. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious," he said. "I don't give a damn who knows about us. All I want is you." Rose stared at him, for the first time actually considering it.

"I… we won't even see each other for the next two months…"

"So write to me," he said. "I'll write to you. Or we can meet in Diagon Alley…" He saw her hesitant expression and smiled a little before amending, "or a Muggle place, I don't care."

"And you're sure?" Rose asked. "Really sure? Because I don't want you to hate me for making you hide all the time and—"

"No, you aren't making me hide, they are," he said. "If you had your way they wouldn't care, right?" Rose nodded. "Then there's nothing to be sorry about."

"Well, I'm sorry anyway," Rose said, but he smiled.

"Just kiss me, Weasley." Rose crossed the compartment quickly and she did, and it felt ten times better because she wasn't furious, and he was so gentle and wonderful that she felt happier than she had in a long time, until she realized how long she'd been in his compartment and pulled away.

"Al's expecting me," she whispered.

"I'll come with you," he said, and she stopped him for a second. "I'll act normal. Don't you trust me?" She smiled a little and he opened the blinds, stepping away from her to what would be considered a normal distance. They left the compartment and walked down the hallway until they found Al, Lily, Hugo and James sitting near the front of the train and knocked quickly.

"What took you so long?" Al asked.

"We, er, had to talk about the Union, but then I ran into Scorpius," Rose said.

"Have you two made up, then?" he asked, letting them in, and they sat down in the two available seats next to Lily.

"Er, yeah, pretty much," Rose said quickly.

"Thank Merlin," Al muttered. "Chocolate Frog?"

Rose was amazed at how easily Al overlooked things and settled in. It took the rest of the day to reach London. When the train pulled into King's Cross Rose began to look through the window to try to glimpse her parents. They'd no doubt be extremely worried, given the events of the week before. She was surprised, though, when she couldn't see them anywhere. "Do you see Mum and Dad?" she asked Hugo, who peered through the window and shook his head, confused.

"Do you reckon they're late?"

"Mum wouldn't be late," Rose said, starting to feel uneasy.

"James, our mum and dad aren't there either," Lily said, and James put down the Prophet he was reading and went over to the window.

"Er… okay, well, let's just go, maybe they haven't gotten through the barrier yet." Everyone in the compartment got off the train, getting their trunks from the crewmen, and started to wander through the crowd.

Rose grew more nervous with every second, and jumped violently when someone shouted, "Rose!" Rose spun around to where the call had come from and saw Leah Shafiq leaning against the barrier wall. Her usual brightly colored hijab was a simple black, and she looked stressed. Rose ran over to her, the others following her, and Leah seemed to be relieved. "Oh, good, you're all together."

"Where are our parents?" Lily asked.

"They weren't supposed to come. We thought it'd be too conspicuous."

"What's going on?" Rose asked.

"I'm taking you to a safe location. You can't go home, I'm sorry. We think Nott's going to try to intercept you."

"What safe location? Why isn't our dad here? He's an Auror, he could protect us," Al said.

"This isn't about the Auror office, your protection isn't in the official records," Leah said. "All of you need to come with me. We can't stay here long. I'll answer all your questions when we get there."

"Come on, guys," James said hesitantly, and they followed Leah through the barrier and out into the Muggle car park, where she had a grey van parked. They entered the car, which was actually built to seat seven people, unlike the Ministry cars they were usually provided.

"We thought magical enhancements would be too detectable," she explained. "Get in; your trunks will fit if we put some of them under your feet. Let the owls fly, that'll help." When they had all managed to squeeze into the car and their owls had taken off, Leah began driving rather fast for the speed limit of the road.

"Where are we going?" Rose asked.

"I can't say yet, Rose, sorry," she said. Rose was in the second row of back seats, between Scorpius and Hugo. Hugo tapped her on the shoulder a few seconds later.

"Yeah, Hugo?"

"Are Mum and Dad going to be there?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I don't know," she said, feeling bad that she couldn't give him a better answer. "But we'll be okay. I promise."

Hugo didn't answer and stared out the window. Rose turned to look at Scorpius. He didn't say anything, but took her hand. She smiled slightly and watched out the window as the car left the city limits of London. Rose didn't know where they were going, but she hoped they would be okay, for a while at least. She knew that nothing was certain anymore. She actually wasn't sure if anything ever had been.


End file.
